Iran and the West will resume nuclear talks in November somewhere in Europe. According to a letter Iranians sent to the EU, Saeed Jalili, Iran’s nuclear negotiator, desires to “resume the talks based on his letter of 6 July.” In this letter, he outlined three conditions for talks. The West should declare their stance on Israel’s nuclear arsenal, declare whether or not they support the NPT, and indicate whether they want to be friends or enemies with Iran. These are not preconditions, though, just conditions. So the West will not be forced to condemn Israel’s posession of nuclear weapons in order for talks to proceed.
There is, apparently, one precondition to talks. According to ABC News, Iranian State television announced that “the EU must first guarantee there would be no threats against Tehran.” Security concerns played a role in the breakdown of negotiations in 2005, as I note in my recent Foreign Policy in Focus article. And, as an indication of how things might proceed, it may be illuminating to read the House of Commons’ report on the 2004-2005 negotiations. You can read it here.
Strangely, I haven’t heard anything about UN Security Council reform being a part of these talks. As I’ve written elsewhere, this was a main concern of Iran upon entering talks with the Obama administration.
Regardless, it will be interesting to see these talks play out.
