Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Slow and steady




There has been little movement in the past few weeks. Negotiations have been set between Iran and the P5+1 to begin on April 13th. The US has made it clear there is an opportunity for a peaceful resolution, but as Hilary Clinton has said, the "window of opportunity... will not remain open forever." The Iranian position is that talks with "mutual respect" will cover a range of topics. This obtuseness on the part of Iran and the converse acuteness of the topics open for discussion by the P5+1 may result in little progress. Without a well defined agenda of topics that are on the table to be discussed and agreed to by both sides, it may prove difficult to find common ground and resolution. I would not expect any developments of note from this negotiation, with the main focus being the setting of an agenda for future negotiations.