On eve of talks, US and Iran remain ‘far apart’ on key issues

WASHINGTON — Iran and the P5+1 member states “remain far apart” on core issues, including both the size and scope of Tehran’s uranium enrichment capacity, the top member of the US negotiating team said on Tuesday evening, less than two days before the opening of a long round of nuclear talks in New York City.

During a talk at Georgetown University, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman emphasized that “America’s purpose in the negotiation is to develop a plan of lasting duration that would block all of the Islamic Republic’s potential paths to a nuclear weapon.”

Sherman emphasized that preventing Iran from building a nuclear arsenal is a top US priority, warning that failure to do so could lead to a Middle East nuclear arms race and intensify sectarian divisions in the conflict-ridden region.

While acknowledging that the past nine months of talks “have been serious” and that both sides “have identified potential answers to some key questions,” Sherman said that “to get to a comprehensive agreement, we remain far apart on other core issues, including the size and scope of Iran’s uranium enrichment capacity.”

Talks toward a comprehensive nuclear agreement are set to resume in New York Thursday, and to continue for some ten days as the sides attempt to reach a deal before a November 24 deadline.

“I fully expect in the days ahead that Iran will try to convince the world that on this pivotal matter, the status quo – or its equivalent – should be acceptable,” Sherman warned.

“It is not. If it were, we wouldn’t be involved in this difficult and very painstaking negotiation. The world will agree to suspend and then lift sanctions only if Iran takes convincing and verifiable steps to show that its nuclear program is and will remain entirely peaceful.”

Sherman said that a goal of the negotiations was to secure an agreement in which “any effort by Tehran to break out of its obligations will be so visible and time-consuming that the attempt would have no chance of success.”

Iran has criticized the US in the past for what it described as maximalist demands regarding Iran’s uranium enrichment capacity. The American negotiating stance, however, has also been criticized by Israeli officials for failing to call for the complete dismantlement of Iran’s enrichment capacity.

In her address, Sherman described a comprehensive peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians as perhaps the “steepest” challenge “of all” in the region.

Sherman singled out Hamas for criticism, saying that it “continues to play an intentionally destructive role” while noting that “each side is under pressure to take actions that would make the restoration of confidence even less likely.”

In pointed language, Sherman said that “those in the Middle East who are weak feel that they cannot afford to compromise, while those who are strong see no need to compromise,” adding that while both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas “welcomed” US-facilitated peace talks toward a two-state solution, “achieving such an outcome requires giving as well as taking, a reality that not everyone is yet ready to accept.”

Sherman reiterated that “the United States will stand by its unshakable commitment to the security of Israel,” and promising that the administration “will oppose any efforts through international organizations or elsewhere to undermine Israel’s legitimacy or deny the right of the Israeli people to defend themselves by themselves.”

Much of Sherman’s address, which was described by the State Department as outlining US policy in the Middle East, was devoted to discussing the spread of the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIL) control in areas of Syria and Iraq.

The US, she said, has “already begun a concerted effort to curb IS’s capabilities, hinder its recruitment, shrink its territory, cut off its financing, and expose its hypocrisy.” While talking up the willingness of other — particularly Middle Eastern — states to aid in the fight against IS, Sherman also rejected as “lazy and inaccurate” descriptions of IS as “Islamic terrorists.”

“When we hear IS’s leaders insist that their campaign of killing, mutilation, torture, rape, and slavery is in fulfillment of God’s commands, we can only reply with a diplomatic term of art: “That is garbage,” she chided. “ISIL is the enemy of all that true Islam teaches. Every state in the Middle East – in fact, all states everywhere – have reason to oppose ISIL.”

In the coming weeks, both Secretary of State John Kerry and President Barack Obama will take America’s case to the United Nations Security Council to coordinate additional international responses to the crisis in Iraq and the spread of IS.