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Reframing Negotiations With Iran

To understand the deadlock in negotiations with Iran, the negotiating framework itself needs to be addressed, writes Mohammad Ali Shabani.
Members of the Iranian delegation, led by Supreme National Security Council Secretary and chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili (3rd L), sit at a table during talks in Almaty February 26, 2013. World powers began talks with Iran on its nuclear programme in the Kazakh city of Almaty on Tuesday, in a fresh attempt to resolve a decade-old standoff that threatens the Middle East with a new war. REUTERS/Ilyas Omarov/Pool  (KAZAKHSTAN - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY) - RTR3EAS0

Despite the intense engagement between Iran and the P5+1 in Kazakhstan, we face continued deadlock. In the intermission until the next round of nuclear talks, it is useful to step away from the focus on how to reach an interim deal and look at the negotiating framework itself for challenges that need to be addressed.

Along this vein, it is fruitful for outside observers to gain an Iranian perspective on the utility of the P5+1 as a forum, the prospect of progress within this framework and how things can move from this setting to a bilateral discussion between Iran and the United States.

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