Will 'Almaty 2' Talks in April Win Breakthrough on Iran?
The Iran-P5+1 talks in Almaty last month were just a start, but the stage is set for a possible breakthrough in the next round, Almaty 2, scheduled for April, writes Seyed Hossein Mousavian.
The latest nuclear talks held between Iran and the world powers on Feb. 26 in Kazakhstan, called Almaty 1, was described as “positive” by Iran, while world powers characterized it as “useful.” The parties agreed to hold meetings first at an expert level on March 18 in Istanbul, followed by political directors on April 5-6, once again in Kazakhstan, dubbed Almaty 2.
While both sides made positive remarks regarding the Almaty talks, there is a major gap in the interpretation of the results. Iran declared that the new proposal of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1) came closer to its views, hinting that sanctions will be gradually lifted, and simultaneously, steps will be taken by both parties going forward and that the negotiations had achieved a milestone.
In addition to the nuclear agenda, Iran is looking for a broad engagement with the world powers on regional and international issues, including Syria and Bahrain, as is referenced in Iran’s own official position to the talks with the P5+1. Because these two crises need an urgent resolution, addressing them has been proposed by Iran as priorities. The Iranian initiative goes beyond Syria and Bahrain to include Iraq, Afghanistan and more. Iran sees these regional issues, rather than the nuclear talks — which it considers highly politicized — as more promising for long-term confidence building with the West.
“With the measures devised by the Iranian diplomatic apparatus, from today [March 3] we will witness the gradual removal of sanctions,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Salehi.
