News Analysis: Iran finetunes in nuclear talks, firm on Syria issue
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E-mail Xinhua, December 15, 2012
Iran has become more active in talks on its nuclear program and Syria crisis, trying to gain an upper hand in bargaining with the West despite economic woes at home, analysts said.
Both Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) spoke positively about their Thursday meeting in Tehran, the first sign of real progress after many rounds of fruitless talks this year.
Ali-Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's permanent representative to IAEA, called the meeting between Iran and IAEA experts "constructive and good progress was made" after it ended Thursday night. Herman Nackaerts, deputy director general of IAEA and leader of the IAEA envoy, confirmed the progress upon his return to IAEA's headquarters in Vienna on Friday.
"We were able to make progress on the text of the structured approach to resolving the outstanding issues on possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program," Nackaerts said. He said he was confident that a deal with Tehran, which includes access to the controversial Parchin base, could be sealed when they meet again next month.
The Parchin military base in southeast of Tehran, where the UN body suspects that some explosive experiments might have been carried out, is a sensitive spot in negotiations between the IAEA and Iran over the latter's contested nuclear program.
The progress was made despite worries that IAEA inspection could expose the conventional weapon and arms industry in Parchin to Western intelligence organizations.
"The agency's officials should exercise greater care in protecting our country's documents since the leakage of some information in the past has led to the assassination of several Iranian nuclear scientists," Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said in a press conference two days before the IAEA envoy arrived in Tehran for the meeting.
In addition, Iran has shown willingness to expand talks with the international community. Iran has repeatedly urged P5+1, UN Security Council's five permanent members -- the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia -- plus Germany, to resume talks on its nuclear issue.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili in November urged the six powers to return to the negotiating table "as soon as possible." Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on direct talks with the United States during his visit to Indonesia in November, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
SYRIA TALKS: TEHRAN COUNTERBALANCES DOHA
In addition to expanding talks on its own nuclear issue, Iran has also taken the initiative to hold talks on the Syria crisis to prevent its closest ally in the region from collapsing.
Iran held a two-day meeting on Syria in November with representatives from Syrian opposition, ethnic and minorities groups, along with representatives of the Syrian government. Representatives voiced strong opposition against foreign intervention in Syria.
The meeting in Tehran was held a week after opposition groups outside Syria gathered in Doha and Qatar to form the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces. The coalition was later recognized by the United States, European Union, France, Britain and most members of the Arab League.
Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil told Xinhua that participants of the Doha meeting were mostly opposition groups outside Syria and were heavily influenced by foreign intervention. "They can neither represent Syria's national interests nor represent the will of the Syrian people."
Unlike organizers of the Doha meeting, Iran had no intention to intervene in the internal affairs of Syria. It only wished to provide convenience for the Syrian government and opposition to talk with each other, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said.
"The Syrian crisis should be solved by the Syrians. The sovereignty of Syria and the will of the Syrian people must be respected," he added.
Salehi said Iran plans to hold more talks between Syrian government and opposition in the future.
Iran also raised the Syria issue when it hosted the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in August. A few days before the meeting started, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told Xinhua that the summit would serve a "good opportunity" for Iran to present its proposal on the Syrian issue.
SANCTIONS CONTINUE TO BITE
Behind Iran's increased willingness for talks is tightening Western sanctions against its energy and banking sectors. Iran's oil sales in the international market have dropped from 2.2 million bpd to 860,000 bpd from the end of 2011 to September 2012, according to a recent report of the International Energy Agency ( IEA). Oil exports account for 80 percent of the country's foreign currency revenues.
The street market exchange rate between Iranian currency Rial and U.S. dollar has also plummeted from about 10,000:1 to 30,000:1, leading to soaring inflation as the country relies heavily on imports for food, electronics and industrial equipments. "Sanctions are affecting Iran, especially those slashed on Iran' s central bank. Iran has found it difficult to import and export," Zibakalam said. People rush to change their money into gold or foreign currencies to preserve the value of their assets, worsening the depreciation of Rial.
In October, many Iranians took to the streets in Tehran's central business district, including currency exchange region and grand bazaar, to protest over depreciation of Rial and high inflation rate after the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blamed the West for waging an "economic war" against country through sanctions.
But the sanctions have not convinced the Iranian leaders to slacken in their determination to push ahead with Iran's nuclear enrichment program. Analysts said the West will be more unlikely to give up sanctions when they are proven to be effective.
Iran's former foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki warned earlier in December against Iran being pressured to the negotiating table. He said Iran should not let the West believe that it can force Iran into compromise by sanctions. "Despite the sanctions, it is more likely that we will have a considerable growth in the operation of centrifuge machines this year and we will continue uranium enrichment decisively," Fereidoon Abbasi, head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said.
Although Iran is determined to continue with nuclear enrichment, it is likely to give up its high-grade uranium enrichment activities if it can obtain the necessary nuclear fuel under mounting sanction pressures from the West, Zibakalam said. Endi
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