The focus of the new round of Iran nuclear talks in Geneva is to get into details of "a possible first-step agreement" and take "this first difficult step" to a period of time to negotiate a comprehensive agreement, said a senior U.S. official on Wednesday evening.
The U.S. official made the remarks on condition of anonymity after talks between the P5+1, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany, and Iran over its nuclear program resumed on Wednesday starting with a series of closed-door bilateral meetings.
The official told reporters that to conclude a first-step agreement is "difficult" and "tough", while said that they were making "very good progress" and "had good meetings" on Wednesday, and "the atmosphere is positive".
The official said it was all agreed that the document which was on the table at the end of last session last time to be the basis for Wednesday's discussions going forward in the Swiss city.
And the focus of this round of talks is to get into details of "a possible first-step agreement, and the parameters of a comprehensive agreement and to see if we can narrow the remaining gaps necessary to conclude such an agreement," said the official.
"Our focus here is on the nuclear talks to try to reach that first agreement, the general outline of a comprehensive agreement and to take this first difficult step to a period of time where we can negotiate a comprehensive agreement," the official noted, referring to a six-month period.
Having reiterated the underline principle which is "the notion of this first step is to ensure that Iran's program does not advance," the official stressed that a first-step leading to a comprehensive agreement need cover the following areas: all of the existing and future, if any, enrichment facilities, Natanz, Fordow and Arak, the capacity of enrichment, the stockpiles, and the verification and monitoring, and need have a general parameters for a comprehensive agreement.
As for the sanction relief on offer if a first-step agreement was achieved, the senior official said that the relief is "quite small" and does not undermine in any way the core architecture of the oil, banking and financial sanctions which have to remain in place until a comprehensive agreement is achieved.
"They (Iran) will get some returns in a balanced, targeted, limited and reversible way. We believe that the only long-term benefits will come in a comprehensive agreement," said the senior official.
The new round of talks starting from Wednesday is the third negotiations between Iran and the six major countries in more than a month.
In the last round of talks, which began on Nov. 7 and extended to an unscheduled third day, the two sides failed to nail down an interim deal as expected.
In a different and separate development, Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) signed a cooperation deal on Nov. 11 to allow the UN nuclear watchdog access to more Iranian nuclear facilities for inspections, including the Arak heavy water plant and Gachin yellow cake mine.
Western countries have long been accusing Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, but Iran insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
