US and Iran to resume nuclear talks in Geneva

US Secretary of State John Kerry is set to resume talks with his Iranian counterpart on Tehran’s nuclear programme, after warning “significant gaps” remain ahead of a key deadline.

Six world powers – Britain, China, France, Russia, the US and Germany – are trying to strike a deal with Iran that would prevent it from developing nuclear weapons in return for an easing of sanctions.
Kerry will be arriving in Geneva on Sunday morning for two days of talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, whose country denies its nuclear programme has military objectives.
“There are still significant gaps, there is still a distance to travel,” Kerry said in London on Saturday.
There is a heightened sense of urgency as the clock ticks down towards a March 31 deadline to agree on a political framework for the deal.
“President Obama has no inclination whatsoever to extend these talks beyond the period that has been set out,” Kerry said.
US and Iranian diplomats have been meeting in Geneva since Friday, and senior negotiators from the so-called P5+1 group – a reference to the permanent Security Council members and Germany – were also expected to meet on Sunday to help drive the talks forward.
Kerry stressed on Saturday that there was “absolutely no divergence whatsoever in what we [the P5+1] believe is necessary for Iran to prove that its nuclear program is going to be peaceful”.

Promising sign
As a sign that efforts were intensifying, US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz flew in to snow-covered Geneva on Saturday to take part in the talks for the first time.
Ali Akbar Salehi, the director of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation, was also participating in the negotiations.
The two officials and their delegations spent five hours at the negotiating table on Saturday, Iranian media reported.

Observers said Moniz and Salehi’s participation was a promising sign that a deal could be within reach.
Kelsey Davenport, head of the Nonproliferation Policy Arms Control Association in Washington, pointed out in an email to AFP that Moniz with his technical expertise would “be a key validator when a deal is concluded”.
Salehi, who plays a similar role, would “likely be instrumental in selling the agreement in Tehran,” he added.
But Kerry played down any suggestion that their participation meant the talks were on the verge of a breakthrough, adding that Moniz was present because of the “technical” nature of the discussions.
Source: AFP