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Iranian Official to Meet Major Powers on Nuclear Dispute France Says Iran, an Assad Ally, Should Be Included in Syria Peace Negotiations
(about 3 hours later)
UNITED NATIONS — Iran’s new foreign minister will meet counterparts from the five permanent Security Council members plus Germany later this week at the United Nations to discuss resuming talks on the protracted dispute over his country’s nuclear program, the European Union’s top foreign policy official said Monday after meeting with him for the first time. In a softening of the Western stance on Iran, France’s foreign minister said on Monday that Iran should be included, under certain conditions, in a Geneva conference that would seek to negotiate an end to Syria’s bloody civil war.
The European official, Catherine Ashton, told reporters at a brief news conference on the sidelines of the annual General Assembly session that in her meeting with the Iranian minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, on Monday morning, she saw “energy and determination” in his approach but also said, “There’s a huge amount of work to do.” In a meeting with the editorial board of The New York Times, the minister, Laurent Fabius, said Iran would need to accept the goal of the conference: the establishment by consensus of a transitional government that would not include President Bashar al-Assad.
A meeting between Mr. Zarif and the Security Council members, which would include Secretary of State John Kerry, would be one of the highest-level face-to-face contacts between Iran and the United States in more than three decades of estrangement between the two countries. It would also be the first meeting of Mr. Kerry and Mr. Zarif in their current roles. Iran would also need to understand, Mr. Fabius said, that it would not be rewarded for any cooperation on Syria by being granted flexibility to pursue its nuclear program, another major issue between Iran and the West.
Ms. Ashton is the lead negotiator for the so-called P5-plus-1 countries — the five permanent Security Council members, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus, Germany — which have been conducting on-again, off-again negotiations with Iran for years on the nuclear dispute, with no substantive progress. “There is an argument, which is a strong one, for the presence of Iran,” Mr. Fabius said, referring to any Syria peace negotiations. “When you have to make peace it is between fighters, and Iran is involved in the conflict.”
Mr. Zarif is an American-educated diplomat appointed by the new Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani. Both have sought to distinguish themselves from the hard-line approach of the last president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They have been outspoken in asserting that Iran is ready to advance the negotiations on the nuclear dispute, which has drawn heavy Western sanctions and left the country increasingly isolated economically. But it remains unclear how the Iranians might be prepared to compromise their position. “But two ‘buts,’ “ he added.
Iran has asserted that its program of uranium enrichment is for peaceful purposes, denying assertions from the West and Israel that it is developing the capability to make nuclear weapons. The Israeli government, which particularly mistrusts Iran’s nuclear intentions, has dismissed the new Iranian diplomatic effort as a public relations maneuver, and was rattled by an exchange of letters between Mr. Rouhani and President Obama that suggested the real possibility of a diplomatic compromise. “They have to accept expressly the aim of Geneva II,” Mr. Fabius said, using the diplomatic shorthand for the proposed conference.
Ms. Ashton described her discussions with Mr. Zarif as constructive, but she provided no details on the substance of the impending meeting with the P5-plus-1 ministers. She described the purpose of her meeting with Mr. Zarif as establishing “how we would go forward.” “Second point, it is should be made clear to the Iranians that there is a Chinese wall between the Syrian case and the nuclear program.” he said. “They cannot say, ‘We agree to offer a solution on the Syrian problem if you are loose on the nuclear weapon.’ No, these are two different things.”
Ms. Ashton said Mr. Zarif, whom she had never met face-to-face before Monday, had “talked about a number of issues but focused on the nuclear issue.” Mr. Fabius spoke on the eve of speeches by world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly, where the Syria conflict is expected to be an overriding theme.
She said Mr. Zarif would join the P5-plus-1 powers in the nuclear talks “later this week, which I will be chairing, in order to have a short discussion, and he agreed that he and I will meet with our team in Geneva in October.” While a major order of business is working out the terms of a United Nations Security Council resolution that would enforce the agreement reached last week to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons program, diplomats have also been discussing how and when to convene a conference to try to settle the civil war in Syria.
The meeting at the United Nations has been set for 4 p.m. Thursday, according to diplomats. Agreement was reached at a 2012 meeting in Geneva, known as Geneva I, on the basic goal of talks to forge a political solution for Syria. But no date for a peace conference — known as Geneva II — that would include representatives of the Syrian government and the Syrian opposition, has been set.
Asked if she foresaw a breakthrough in the talks, Ms. Ashton said, “I was struck by the energy and determination that the foreign minister demonstrated to me.” One obstacle has been over deciding which nations should attend. Russia, for example, has insisted that Iran should participate. Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations special envoy on Syria, has also urged that Iran participate.
Mr. Zarif did not speak to reporters about the meeting with Ms. Ashton, which was one of more than a dozen meetings he had scheduled at the United Nations on Monday. But he found time to utilize his now-famous Twitter account, a relative novelty for Iran’s post-Ahmadinejad government, to post a quick appraisal. “Positive initial meeting with Ashton,” Mr. Zarif wrote. “Meet with 5+1 ministers on Thursday and next round in October. Need new start under new circumstances.” The United States and its allies have opposed including Iran, which has sent members of its paramilitary Quds Force to help the Assad government and has been supplying arms as well.
The State Department reacted cautiously, reflecting the Obama administration’s assertions that Iran’s leaders will be judged by their actions. Iran has refused to comply with Security Council requests that it suspend uranium enrichment and allow the International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear monitor of the United Nations, to examine a restricted military site in Iran. I.A.E.A. investigators have long sought unfettered access to the site, Parchin, on suspicion it may once have been a testing ground for nuclear weapons triggers, which Iran has emphatically denied. American officials have not publicly been as forward leaning as Mr. Fabius on Iran’s inclusion in talks, and appear to be waiting to see how meetings go this week, particular a Thursday session at which Iran’s new foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, will meet counterparts from the five permanent Security Council members plus Germany. Those talks will focus on the protracted dispute over Iran’s nuclear program.
“As we have said previously, we hope that the new Iranian government will engage substantively with the international community to reach a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear program and to cooperate fully with the I.A.E.A. in its investigation,” said Jen Psaki, a State Department spokeswoman. A meeting between Mr. Zarif and the Security Council members, which would include Secretary of State John Kerry, would be one of the highest-level face-to-face contacts between Iran and the United States in more than three decades of estrangement. It would also be the first meeting of Mr. Kerry and Mr. Zarif in their current roles.
“We remain ready to work with Iran should the Rouhani administration choose to engage seriously,” she said. “Secretary Kerry welcomes the foreign minister’s commitment to a substantive response and to his agreement to meeting in the short term with permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany coordinated by E.U. High Representative Ashton to discuss the nuclear program.” Mr. Zarif is an American-educated diplomat appointed by the new Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani. Both have sought to distinguish themselves from the hard-line approach of the last president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They have been outspoken in asserting that Iran is ready to advance the negotiations on the nuclear dispute, which has drawn heavy Western sanctions and left the country increasingly isolated economically.
William Hague, the British foreign secretary, told reporters later in the day that he had held “a constructive first meeting” with the Iranian foreign minister but that Britain expected Iran to take “concrete steps to address the international community’s concerns.” Iran has asserted that its program of uranium enrichment is for peaceful purposes, denying assertions from the West and Israel that it is developing the capability to make nuclear weapons. The Israeli government, which particularly mistrusts Iran’s nuclear intentions, has dismissed the new Iranian diplomatic effort as a public relations maneuver.
Mr. Hague applauded the Iranian government’s release of political prisoners. He said he hoped Iran would play “a constructive role” in talks over the Syria conflict. And he said Iran’s next steps would determine whether relations between Iran and Britain, which were severely downgraded in November 2011 after Tehran protesters pillaged British diplomatic facilities there, would move toward normalization. Catherine Ashton, the European Union foreign policy chief, met with the Iranian foreign minister on Monday and described her discussions with him as constructive. Ms. Ashton said Mr. Zarif, whom she had never met face-to-face before Monday, had “talked about a number of issues but focused on the nuclear issue.”
Mr. Zarif did not speak to reporters about the meeting with Ms. Ashton. But used his now-famous Twitter account, a relative novelty for Iran’s post-Ahmadinejad government, to post a quick appraisal. “Positive initial meeting with Ashton,” Mr. Zarif wrote. “Meet with 5+1 ministers on Thursday and next round in October. Need new start under new circumstances.”
The State Department reacted cautiously, reflecting the Obama administration’s position that Iran’s leaders should be judged by their actions. Iran has refused to comply with Security Council requests that it suspend uranium enrichment and allow the International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear monitor of the United Nations, to examine a restricted military site in Iran. Agency investigators have long sought unfettered access to the site, Parchin, on the suspicion that it may once have been a testing ground for nuclear weapons triggers. Iran has emphatically denied this.
Jen Psaki, a State Department spokeswoman, said: “As we have said previously, we hope that the new Iranian government will engage substantively with the international community to reach a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear program and to cooperate fully with the I.A.E.A. in its investigation. We remain ready to work with Iran should the Rouhani administration choose to engage seriously.”
William Hague, the British foreign secretary, told reporters Monday that he had held “a constructive first meeting” with Mr. Zarif and that he thought Iran might play “a constructive role” in talks over the Syria conflict. But he stressed that Britain expected Iran to take “concrete steps to address the international community’s concerns.”
“If they really mean what they’re saying then certainly it will be possible,” Mr. Hague said.“If they really mean what they’re saying then certainly it will be possible,” Mr. Hague said.

Michael R. Gordon contributed reporting.

Rick Gladstone contributed reporting.