American intransigence over Iran's nuclear-enrichment programme led to the failure of last week's P5+1 group talks in Iraq, writes Mojtaba Mousavi from Baghdad One hour after discussions had begun at last week's meeting in the Iraqi capital Baghdad to discuss the Iranian nuclear programme, one US diplomat said that "there is no package being offered by the Iranian side in the negotiations," even as a senior Iranian diplomat claimed that the Iranian side had put forward a package of proposals during the first plenary session. The talks, held between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries, which includes the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany, came one month after the failure of the previous round of talks in Istanbul. The Iranian negotiators had arrived in Baghdad on May 22, one day before the start of the talks, for consultations with Iraqi officials including Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki and President Jalal Talabani. "All the Iraqi parties welcomed Iran and the world powers for talks in Iraq," said the Iranian ambassador in Baghdad. The late departure of the negotiators representing the P5+1 countries and bad weather in Baghdad forced members of the western group, including EU foreign policy representative Catherine Ashton, to go to Jordan and then drive to Iraq, delaying the start of the meeting. Because of the delay, no meetings were held before the official meetings began last Wednesday. "In the first round of the negotiations, Iran offered a five-point package containing a variety of subjects, including nuclear and non-nuclear issues," a diplomat present at the Baghdad meeting said. He added that the issue of Bahrain and the situation in Syria had been part of the non- nuclear issues in the package. However, it seemed that the first day of the discussions had not gone well, and tough negotiations in the afternoon sessions swiftly stalled without the participants being able to reach agreement. The Iranian negotiators accused the US of being "impractical" and making "provocative" statements. Some analysts suggested that pressure from Israel on Europe and even on Russia and China had been the reason for some of the disagreements. However, one Chinese analyst present in Baghdad said that "even though China and Israel have a friendly relationship, this does not influence Chinese policy." Asked if the US would be willing to put practical proposals on the table in response to Iran's attempts at building trust, an American diplomat said that "we have not offered anything from our side to Iran. The package has only 'one step', and that one step needs to be taken by the Iranians." America was not ready to discuss the sanctions against Iran, he said. "We are not going to accept Iran's right to carry out nuclear enrichment, and all the members of the P5+1 group, including Russia and China, have the same idea and have no dispute with our demands." Yet, when asked if Russia agreed with the US stand Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Rybakov said that Russia recognised Iran's right to develop peaceful nuclear energy based on Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) protocols. Rybakov's view of the sanctions against Iran also differed from that stated by the American diplomats, since Russia wanted to see the sanctions against Iran removed as soon as possible, he said. US attempts to halt Iran's 20 per cent nuclear enrichment programme and to force it to shut down the Fordow nuclear plant while offering nothing in return had been responsible for the negotiations' failure. Many European and American analysts present in Baghdad said that the demands being made by the P5+1 group under US instruction were illogical and unacceptable to Iran. Iran could not be expected simply to abandon its nuclear programme after many years of research and investment for nothing in return, one American analyst said. After a discouraging first day of talks, the second day was hardly more encouraging. The Iranian negotiators requested a response from the P5+1 group to its package of proposals, saying that the counter-proposals received from the P5+1 countries were unacceptable to Iran since they were "outdated, not comprehensive, and unbalanced". Ali Baqeri, the Iranian deputy negotiator in the bilateral meeting with EU representative Helga Schmidt, said that Iran would like to see a quick response to its proposals. One Iranian diplomat said after the first day's sessions that "the P5+1 group is unwilling to take any decisions," probably because it felt pressured by the US. On the morning of the second day of the negotiations, Ashton officially informed the Iranian delegation that "we are not able to reach a decision" on the Iranian proposals. Commentators said that the delay in responding to the Iranian package had come as a result of disputes within the P5+1 group over the contents of the Iranian proposals. "Ashton had tough responsibilities, and she had to talk to each member of the group before reaching a final decision. Many times, an objection from one member would upset everything, causing a new headache for Ashton," one observer said. While Iran had been able to work well with Ashton, he continued, she had been hamstrung by the attitudes of P5+1 group members, particularly the United States. As a result, the Baghdad talks ended in failure, even though unofficial negotiations continued until last Thursday afternoon in an attempt to salvage something from the talks. Despite constant pressure from Congress, US President Barack Obama would not have been seeking failure at the Baghdad talks, and he will be disappointed with the results of the meeting. Meanwhile, the Iranian side will not be surprised at the failure of the talks, due, in their view, to American intransigence. There were signs even late in the day that some agreement could be found, notably in the talks between Ashton and Iranian negotiator Said Jalili. In a meeting with Ashton, Jalili had insisted that Iran was not prepared to sign up to what he called a "win-lose deal", with Iran on the losing side. One hour later, Ashton said that she had informed Jalili that the P5+1 group could be ready for a compromise. In a draft statement, it was mentioned that Iran's right to carry out 20 per cent nuclear enrichment would be respected, as would a step-by- step approach in the ongoing negotiations. "However, in the last hour of the meeting, Ashton said that the Americans were still holding to their position, and the agreement came to nothing," Jalili said.
