Impacts of Kerry’s Statements Should Be Seen in Vienna Talks

-The recent statements made by John Kerry could pave the way but we must wait and see its results in the negotiations which are now going on in Vienna.

-It seems that the US Secretary of State has intended to open a path from the political aspect so that a solution would be found for the deadlock that seems to exist in these negotiations. Now, one must wait and see what path is to be taken in the negotiations with the P5+1 and with the IAEA.

-From 2007 to 2011, the Islamic Republic of Iran was faced with heavy political attacks in the IAEA. During these years, a series of false studies turned into a series of real accusations which were stated in the IAEA reports as evidence.

-Part of what Kerry says is that it is not necessary to stay in the past but the negative part of his statements is that he says since we know what has happened and he means that these accusations are real and Iran has sought nuclear weapons. Therefore, these issues must be considered alongside each other.

-What is now the issue of dispute is the problem of inspections, accessibilities, interviews and documents which are related to Iran’s past activities.

-Unfortunately, the IAEA does not have a proper position with regard to Iran because Iran came under Article 18 of the Safeguards Agreement based on which any inspection by the IAEA is allowed and Iran is committed to implement it.

-The difficult task that Mr. Zarif is pursuing is that he should bring Iran out of this article without allowing the IAEA to enter into sensitive internal areas and this is one of the most difficult parts.

-It would be to the benefit of both sides that the discussions about the past activities of Iran’s nuclear program be resolved and left to the archives and to discuss the future.

-It seems that reaching a solution with regard to the Additional Protocol and a situation similar to other members of the IAEA would not be difficult and in fact the future is important. Mr. Kerry is saying the same thing, that we should pursue methods wherein both parties would trust each other.

-In the final stages of drafting negotiations, the majority of the issues will be resolved. Basically, it should be expected that four or five issues including the past accusations and future supervisions remain which must be resolved at the political level.

-If the intention of both parties is to resolve the issues, then it does not seem that these matters would be irresolvable and a final deal would be expected.