Brussels, 15/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - Iran brought forward its proposals at the inaugural session of the negotiations with the E3+3 (Germany, France, United Kingdom and China, United States, Russia) in Geneva on 15 October, announced Michael Mann, the spokesperson to High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton. The parties agreed not to give any information on this proposal, said Iran's Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Abbas Aragchi, telling his country's media that the proposal is “very complete” and can enable “a breakthrough in the negotiations”. “We are serious. We are not here symbolically or to waste our time”, he said. In Aragchi's view, there could be an initial step of progress by the end of the discussions on 16 October, and a new round of discussions in a month.
Aragchi stated that during this two-hour inaugural session Iran presented the “general outline” of its proposal, and was due to present the details of it during the afternoon session. The PowerPoint presentation lasted nearly an hour and for the first time was in English - in quite a positive atmosphere, according to Ashton's spokesperson. “We heard a presentation this morning [15 October ] from Foreign Affairs Minister Zarif. It was very useful. Talks are reconvening this afternoon to look at further details” in the proposal. The afternoon session was held from 2.30-5.00pm in the form of a technical meeting at the level of political leaders and Aragchi.
Meeting still in progress at time of going to press. Between the two sessions of discussions with Iran, Ashton and the E3+3 political leaders met at lunchtime to discuss the Iranian proposals. “Progress will depend on the issue of knowing if Iran responds to our concerns” on the specific nature of the Iranian nuclear programme, said Mann, quoted by news agencies. “We want to progress quickly. It's time to come to tangible results”, he added.
The previous day, before the resumption of the negotiations, Ashton had hoped that the two days of discussions would be “very productive” and the opportunity to explore the two proposals that they had tabled, and also the ideas coming from Iran. Ashton hoped that over the course of the discussions, “there will be an opportunity to really go into the details and to explore the possibilities”. “We have come here with cautious optimism but a real sense of determination”, Ashton stated.
The previous evening, Ashton had a six hour dinner with Iran's Foreign Affairs Minister Mohamad Javad Zarif at the Iranian mission in Geneva. Zarif described the dinner as “good”. (CG/transl.fl)