US to offer Iran sanctions relief?

15 October 2013 | 21:58 Code : 1922968 Latest Headlines

The US may offer Iran a quick relief of sanctions ‘proportional to what Iran puts on the table,’ as the Islamic Republic holds a new round of talks with six major world powers on Tehran’s nuclear energy program, a report says.

Any sanctions relief would be “targeted, proportional to what Iran puts on the table,” Reuters cited a senior US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, on Monday.

The US official also stated that Washington is “quite clear about what the menu of options are and what will match what.” “No one should expect a breakthrough overnight,” he added.

The comments come as Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday, “We believe that the nuclear issue can be resolved in one year and Iran’s nuclear issue can turn into an ordinary matter in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) provided that the opposite side has goodwill.”

The new round of negotiations between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - Russia, China, Britain, France and the United States - plus Germany began in Geneva on Tuesday.

Iran has announced that it will offer a new package of proposals to the six powers during the two-day talks.

On October 13, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi said Iran’s package to be proposed during the talks is based on “the same step-by-step approach which was brought up and generally agreed on” in meetings with the six powers partaking in the nuclear talks.

Foreign Minister Zarif is leading the high-ranking Iranian delegation of political, technical and legal experts during the trip.

Araqchi will be the chief Iranian negotiator in the talks, accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Majid Takht Ravanchi, Foreign Ministry’s Director-General for Political and International Affairs Hamid Ba’eedinejad, Foreign Minister’s Legal Adviser Davoud Mohammadnia, and the Director General for Defensive Affairs of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization Mohammad Amiri.

The United States, the Israeli regime and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program. Tehran categorically rejects the allegation, arguing that as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the IAEA, Iran has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.