Iran Nuke Talks, Geneva: Iran and The West on Upbeat Mood, Is Compromise Underway?
Iran Nuke Talks:
At the centre of the controversy is Iran's uranium enrichment program. Iran now has more than 10,000 centrifuges of enriched uranium - capable to either power reactors or create nuclear bomb.
Time and again, Iran, consistently denied that it has plans of using its uranium stockpile to stage a nuclear war but the West had always been dubious about this. Iran had enriched its tons of uranium of up to 5 per cent; nearly 200 kilograms of 20 per cent enriched uranium - close to attaining the ideal quality needed for one nuclear weapon.
At the Iran Nuke Talks in Geneva, Iran's top nuclear negotiator Abbas Arqchi told Reuters that the first day of the nuke talks "went well."
"We had very constructive, very good exchange of views, very serious. It was, I can say, very businesslike." However, Mr Araqchi was quick to comment that "It's too soon to judge."
What West Wants:
Spokesperson for UE foreign policy told reporters that Iran had already went about its proposal through a PowerPoint presentation.
Keeping everything confidential, Mr Mann described the proposal as having a sense of "cautious optimism."
"For the first time, very detailed technical discussions continued this afternoon. High Representative Ashton will now have a bilateral with Minister Zarif and we will continue our discussions tomorrow (Wednesday) morning," Mr Mann said.
"They've come forward with something this morning, but we need to work harder on it to get down to the nitty gritty," Mr Mann added.
The West had always called for Tehran to cease its alleged nuclear weapons development. In return, they vow to lift some of the international sanctions which Tehran had been subjected in to for the past years - asset freezes and travel bans among people associated with its nuclear programme. The sanctions had affected Iran's energy and banking industry and had already crippled Iran' oil economy.
The West was also negotiating for Iran to transport some of its uranium stockpiles outside its border and shutdown its Fordo production site.
However, as negotiations were happening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disapproves lifting sanction against Tehran as this would be a "historical mistake". He said that once the sanctions were lifted, Iran might reinforce "uncompromising elements" with Ayatollah Ali Khamenie "perceived as the winner."
What Iran Wants:
Iran called for the sanctions to be lifted and for its enriched uranium to remain exclusive within its border.
"We will not allow even a gram of uranium to go out of the country," Mr Arqchi was quoted saying during an interview with a local broadcasting television network.
The PowerPoint presentation of Iran during the nuke talks in Geneva, on the other hand, sent out a more positive message as reflected in its title: "An End to the Unnecessary Crisis and a Beginning for Fresh Horizons."
Foreign Minister Mohammad Jayad Zarif led the presentation.
On a Facebook status posted by Mr Zarif on Saturday, he said that the nuke talks happening in Geneva will be a "start of a difficult and relatively time-consuming way forward. I am hopeful that by Wednesday we can reach agreement on a roadmap to find a path towards resolution."
A member of the delegations meeting who refused to be named hinted that a compromise might be underway.
The member told The Associated Press that Iran had in fact offered reductions in both levels of its uranium enrichment and to open its nuclear facilities for thorough inspection and monitoring of the United Nations - provided Iran can be completely freed of all the sanctions imposed upon Iran.