Six world powers and Iran wrapped up two days of talks in Geneva yesterday on Tehran’s contentious nuclear programme, with an agreement to meet again in Istanbul next month despite clear differences.
The European Union’s top diplomat Catherine Ashton told journalists they agreed to fresh talks in Istanbul to “discuss practical ideas and ways of cooperating towards the resolution of our core concerns about the nuclear issue”.
But Iran’s top negotiator Saeed Jalili said barely an hour later that both sides agreed only to further “talks based on cooperation” in Istanbul at the end of January and that everything else was “not true”.
“The only outcome of our talks today was the agreement we reached to organise a set of talks based on cooperation... and anything other than this has no value,” said Mr Jalili, adding that additional points were a sign of “disrespect”.
Mr Jalili insisted that parties to the Geneva talks agreed on the final wording, and that he “didn’t think parties would say differently from what happened”.
“If this happened, then that would only create a high wall of mistrust.
“It only took us a few minutes to come to the hotel from the conference centre, it would be regretful if within a few minutes, the wording has been changed.”
Mr Jalili said that the next meeting would take place only “exclusively on the basis” of the wording agreed in the Geneva talks.
“We hope they will respect the conclusion of the meeting. As long as they respect it, the meeting will take place,” he said.
The Swiss organiser of talks had originally announced that Mr Jalili would hold a joint press conference with Ms Ashton, but finally only the Iranian was present.
The Iranian nuclear negotiator would not be drawn into why Ms Ashton cancelled.
In a separate meeting with the press, Ms Ashton did not take questions, but only read out a statement, saying that world powers “recognise Iran’s rights, but insist it fulfils its obligations”.
The EU’s top diplomat represented the five permanent powers of the Security Council – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany at the Geneva meeting.
Besides holding plenaries with all parties, Mr Jalili also met one-on-one with heads of several delegations, including Britain, China and Russia. In addition, he held a working dinner with Ms Ashton on Monday night.
However, Mr Jalili had refused a request by the head of the US delegation, Under Secretary of State William Burns, for a bilateral meeting, a source close to the Geneva talks said.