Iran Snap Analysis: No Advance in the Nuclear Talks on Friday

Catherine Ashton, the lead negotiator for the 5+1 Powers, and her Iranian counterpart Saeed Jalili

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As we expected, the first day of discussions between Iran and the 5+1 Powers in Kazakhstan brought little sign of an advance on the key issues of uranium enrichment and sanctions relief.

Indeed, the tone from the Western side was one of pessimism and some bitterness, with complaints that Iran had not progressed from its position last June, when talks stalemated in Moscow.

The Iranians were more neutral in their presentation, saying they had offered "specific proposals...for the start of a new round of cooperation".

Decoding the statements --- and recognising that almost all of the Western press are echoing the blame of the Iranians by US and European officials --- this appears to be the situation, at least in the opening session:

The US and European members of the 5+1 Powers want Iran to work with specifics of the 5+1 proposals, namely the arrangements for suspension of enrichment of 20% uranium. They were unable to get Tehran's negotiators to start from that point.

The Iranians fear that they will get little for agreement to that suspension, even on a six-month rather than permanent basis. So far the Western power shave offered no more than token relief of some sanctions, namely on gold and precious metals, and have not explicitly recognised Iran's right to enrich to 5%.

So Tehran's negotiators are looking for a declaration on principles --- for example, the right to enrich --- before taking on the specifics.

There is an addendum to this, which may or may not reinforce the pessimism. In contrast to the quick attempt by both sides to spin the press after the first session, there was near silence after the afternoon's talks.

And, in contrast to previous high-level encounters, there was no news of informal dinners --- for example, between lead negotiators Catherine Ashton and Saeed Jalili --- last evening.

At the talks last year and n February, first-day clashes such as the one that occurred on Friday have been eased by such dinners, with both side coming out for a second day of discussions pointing to constructive dialogue.

As the Iranians and the 5+1 meet this morning, that has not occurred.

So have these talks not only ground to a halt, but hit reverse? Or is the silence a sign of discussions so sensitive --- and potentially offering advance --- that no one is spinning a word?