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The five
permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus
Germany meet with
Iran over their nuclear program September 26, 2013 in
New York. (AFP,
Stan Honda)
|
New York —
Iran and the United States met for one of their highest level meetings since
the 1979 revolution Thursday as their foreign ministers joined landmark talks
on Tehran's suspect nuclear program.
The talks,
involving US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad
Javad Zarif, came just after new Iranian leader Hassan Rouhani called on Israel
to admit it has a nuclear bomb.
Chaired by
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, the meeting brought together the
foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council,
Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany in a group
dubbed the P5+1.
Smiling
broadly, Zarif was sat at the head of the table next to Ashton looking down on
the Security Council conference room, with Kerry to the right on an abutting
table.
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Iran's
President Hassan Rouhani (C)
arrives with UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon (R)
during the UN General
Assembly in New York, September 26,
2013 (AFP, Emmanuel
Dunand)
|
Western
powers have approached with caution the overtures made by the new Iranian
leadership which took power in August.
"While
we do not anticipate that any issues will be resolved during today?s P5+1
meeting, we are hopeful that we can continue to chart a path forward," a
US State Department official said.
"We
hope that this new Iranian government will show that it is prepared to engage
substantively to address these long standing concerns and we will see today and
in months ahead whether they will follow words with action."
It is the
first time that Iranian and American ministers have sat together at the talks,
aimed at reining in the Islamic republic's nuclear program, which western
nations believe is a covert grab for an atomic bomb.
Iran has
repeatedly denied the accusations, saying its nuclear program is for civilian
purposes only.
Rouhani
said he believed a deal could be struck with the international community within
three to six months.
And he said
Iran's arch-foe Israel should join the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which aims to
contain the spread of nuclear weapons. Israel has never declared a nuclear
arsenal, but is widely assumed to have several bombs.
Rouhani,
speaking as current leader of the Non-Aligned Movement at a conference on
disarmament, highlighted the failure of attempts to organize a Middle East
nuclear free zone.
"Israel,
the only non-party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty in this region, should join
thereto without any further delay," Rouhani told the meeting.
Kerry met
early Thursday with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and the two men agreed
"Iran should cooperate and should respond positively to the offer on the
table," a US official told reporters.
The P5+1
made a new offer to Iran earlier this year, before Rouhani's election, on how
to overcome the current stalemate in the nuclear dossier.
It is
believed to have offered an easing of the international sanctions which have
crippled the Iranian economy, in return for a slow down in Iran's uranium
enrichment program.
Western
officials say they are still waiting for a response.
"No
nation should possess nuclear weapons, since there are no right hands for these
wrong weapons," insisted Rouhani.
"As
long as nuclear weapons exist, the risk of their use, threat of use and
proliferation persist. The only absolute guarantee is their total elimination,"
he said.
Rouhani
told the Washington Post he wants a quick deal on the nuclear standoff adding
he has the full backing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
"If
it's three months, that would be Iran's choice, if it's six months, that's still
good. It's a question of months not years," he said.
While US
officials say no bilateral talks are planned between Kerry and Zarif, an
unofficial encounter remained possible.
As he
entered the room Kerry said he was "looking forward to a good
meeting."
Western
diplomats say the meeting will give Iran a chance to show there is substance
behind Rouhani's statements that he wants to end the nuclear showdown.
The United
States had sought a meeting between President Barack Obama and Rouhani on the
sidelines of this week's UN assembly. But Iran said it was too complex
to organise.
Related Articles:
"Recalibration of Knowledge" – Jan 14, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Channelling, God-Creator, Benevolent Design, New Energy, Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Reincarnation, Gaia, Old Energies (Africa, Terrorists, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela ... ), Weather, Rejuvenation, Akash, Nicolas Tesla / Einstein, Cold Fusion, Magnetics, Lemuria, Atomic Structure (Electrons, Particles, Polarity, Self Balancing, Magnetism), Entanglement, "Life is necessary for a Universe to exist and not the other way around", DNA, Humans (Baby getting ready, First Breath, Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Rejuvenation), Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text Version)
“… I want you to watch some countries. I don't have a clock [this statement is Kryon telling us that there is no time frame on his side of the veil, only potentials]. I'll just tell you, it's imminent [in Spirit's timing, this could mean as soon as a decade]. I want you to watch some countries carefully for changes. You're going to be seeing changes that are obvious, and some that are not obvious [covert or assumptive]. But the obvious ones you will see sooner than not - Cuba, Korea [North], Iran, of course, and Venezuela. I want you to watch what happens when they start to realize that they don't have any more allies on Earth! Even their brothers who used to support them in their hatred of some are saying, "Well, perhaps not anymore. It doesn't seem to be supporting us anymore. "Watch the synchronicities that are occurring. The leaders who have either died or are going to in the next year or so will take with them the old ways. Watch what happens to those who take their place, and remember these meetings where I described these potentials to you. …”
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