Day two of nuclear talks just wrapped among Iran, the United States and five other world powers, and already negotiations have “hit a wall,” France’s foreign minister said.
The national heads of state are meeting in Geneva, but after four months of off-and-on talks, they’ve only struck agreement on minor “technical points,” Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said, the Los Angeles Times reported. Still to be decided are several main points, including how and if Tehran can use its 19,000 centrifuges.
Western powers would like Iran to cut back its centrifuge inventory to “some hundreds,” Mr. Fabius said, in the Los Angeles Times. But Iran would rather keep “hundreds of thousands,” he added. Iran’s argument is that it needs to keep more than 50,000 centrifuges operational to produce enough enriched uranium to expand its hoped-for nuclear power program.
The latest round of discussions has been ongoing since February. Iran’s major hope is to convince the world powers to ease economic sanctions. Western nations want assurance and proof, meanwhile, that Iran isn’t using its nuclear program to develop weapons.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.