Iran, 6 world powers resume nuclear talks

'Don't expect too much of anything,' says chief negotiator of talks resuming after year-long hiatus

Associated Press|Published: 12.06.10 , 14:14

Iran and six world powers came to the table Monday with an exchange of pleasantries but far apart on how deeply their talks should go into the West's greatest concern – Iranian nuclear activities that could be used to make atomic weapons.

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The talks in Geneva – the first in over a year – are meant to ease fears over Iran's nuclear agenda. Tehran says it does not want atomic arms, but as it builds on its capacity to make such weapons, neither Israel nor the US have ruled out military action if Tehran fails to heed UN Security Council demands to freeze key nuclear programs.

The delegations of Iran, the European Union, the US, Russia, Britain, France and Germany convened on Monday morning, and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton met Saeed Jalili, Iran's chief negotiator, in the foyer of the conference room.

An official from one of the delegations told The Associated Press the first hour of the meeting was taken up by the six powers making a case for why they thought Iran's nuclear program needed to be discussed, with the Iranian side expected to state their case next.

But the chief negotiator from one of the six powers warned: "Don't expect much of anything," before the talks began, in a comment reflecting the deep divide separating the two sides. But men asked for anonymity because neither was authorized to comment to the media.

The long-term aim for the six is nudging Iran toward agreeing to stop uranium enrichment, which can make both fuel for reactors and the fissile core of nuclear arms.

But Iran's defiance was highlighted Sunday when it announced it had delivered its first domestically mined raw uranium to a processing facility, claiming it was now self-sufficient over the whole enrichment process. It has burdened the pre-talk atmosphere, adding to tensions left by the assassination last week of a prominent Iranian nuclear scientist and the wounding of another.