Word: solana
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...Parsi: Although the EU representative, Javier Solana, reported that progress had been made in his talks with Iran's nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, the Iranians have thus far continued to reject the Western demand that Iran suspend uranium enrichment as a precondition for negotiations. Solana and Larijani had been looking for a formula that would have the Iranians halt enrichment activities for a clearly defined period to allow such talks to begin. But the Iranians are reluctant to accept any deal that removes their right to enrich uranium at some point in the future; even if they do so temporarily...
...likely to push for some very mild sanctions, now, although Russia may oppose even that option. Meanwhile, the talks between Solana and Larijani will likely continue. The U.S. may be hoping that sanctions pressure will make the Iranians more likely to concede, but the opposite may be true: Even though the sanctions will be largely symbolic, they will likely further set back the diplomatic process. The irony is that the slow process represented by the sanctions option will simply give Iran more time to continue with its current enrichment activities...
...suspend enrichment as a precondition for negotiation. Instead, the Iranians appear to be offering the possibility of suspending enrichment for a defined period in the course of negotiations - a position reiterated last weekend in talks between Tehran's top negotiator, Ali Larijani, and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana...
...Talks is the operative word: Even though Solana and Larijani appear to be seeking to find a way to bridge (or perhaps fudge) what appear to be mutually exclusive positions over when Iran would suspend enrichment - i.e., before talks, or after they begin - they can't use the word negotiations to describe their conversations since the U.S.-EU position precludes negotiations until Iran suspends enrichment. Whatever they call their meetings, Larijani and Solana are clearly engaged in a process designed to avert a confrontation. They were due to meet on Thursday, but postponed that discussion to allow their aides more...
...That's if things even get that far. It's not yet clear that Larijani and Solana will succeed in building a bridge between the two sides, and even if they do, many skirmishes lie ahead. Still, at least there's been sufficient shift in the posture of the two sides to convince the hyper-sensitive analysts who determine the price of oil futures to allow prices to fall...