Hope for US-Iran Talks; Egypt in Crisis
Signs of a possible breakthrough in nuclear talks with Iran in Almaty; Egypt’s crisis deepens with reports of torture by the Muslim Brotherhood; Al-Monitor’s Pulse Pages now available in Arabic, Hebrew and Turkish.
Iran Sends Signal
Al-Monitor’s Laura Rozen broke the news last week that Iranian negotiators are considering suspending 20%-enriched uranium for six months and converting their 20% stockpile for medical use.
The apparent seriousness of the technical discussions in Istanbul on March 18 could signal a chance for progress at the nuclear talks to be held between Iran and the P5+1 countries (the permanent members of the Security Council and Germany, under European Union auspices) April 5-6 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
An Iranian source close to the talks referred Rozen to the March 21 speech by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in which the Iranian supreme leader said that the nuclear question could be resolved if the United States “could recognize the Iranian nation’s right to enrichment and in order to address those concerns, they could enforce the regulations of the regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA].” Khamenei added that Iran was “never opposed to the supervision and regulations of the” IAEA.
