Vienna - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has only
low expectations for upcoming talks with Iran on solving the nuclear
standoff, he said during a visit in Vienna on Thursday.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will talk with Iranian
nuclear negotiator Saeid Jalili in Geneva on Saturday, on ways to
enter into full negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme and
cooperation in a wide range of areas.
Senior representatives of Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia,
and the United States will also participate in the talks.
'Let's put it this way: I foster great hopes for these talks, but
I have only low expectations,' Kouchner said after a meeting with
Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik.
UN resolutions and sanctions, aimed at coercing Iran into
suspending its nuclear activities, have not led to any results,
Kouchner said.
While Iran maintains its right to build a civilian nuclear
programme, the other six countries at the talks are concerned that
Tehran might one day use its nuclear facilities to make atomic
weapons.
'Of course Iran is a great country with a great history and
culture, and Tehran should take its legitimate place in the world,'
he said.
'The result of Paris' talks with Tehran has always been nil,' the
French foreign minister added.
The new round of talks in Geneva is aimed at finding a way to
begin negotiations on two package proposals that both sides have
presented in the past months.
While Iran wants to keep enriching uranium during full
negotiations, the other six countries set a suspension of nuclear
activities as a precondition for further talks.
While Kouchner's outlook for the Geneva talks is shared in
diplomatic circles, diplomats see it as a positive sign that the US
will participate in such talks for the first time.
In the past weeks, there have been indications that Washington is
changing its hard-line stance towards Tehran.
Last week, US Under Secretary of State William Burns, who will
attend the Geneva talks, hinted that Washington is considering
opening a diplomatic mission in Tehran for the first time in 30
years.
Opening a so-called interest section 'is an interesting concept
that is worth looking at carefully,' Burns told the House of
Representatives foreign affairs committee.
USA
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