Iran nuclear talks fail to ease dispute

VIENNA, (Reuters) – An apparent failure by world  powers and Iran to make any progress towards resolving the  dispute over its nuclear plans may increase U.S. talk of the  need to step up sanctions pressure on the Islamic Republic.
Two days of seemingly fruitless discussions in Istanbul  between Iran and the six powers — the United States, France,  Germany, China, Russia and Britain — ended today without  even an agreement on when and where to meet again.
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said  the door remained open but the outcome was clearly   disappointing, even if no one had expected a breakthrough in the  Turkish city.
Western officials had hoped for signs that Iran would be  willing to start addressing their concerns about its nuclear  programme, which they fear is aimed at making bombs but Tehran  says is designed for peaceful power generation.
But the Iranian delegation made clear from the outset that  the country’s “nuclear rights” were not negotiable.
Ashton, who led the big powers’ delegation, said no new  meeting was planned for now. An Iranian official said the talks  would resume, but that no date or venue had yet been set.
In the previous session between the two sides in Geneva in  early December, which also made no concrete headway in easing  the standoff, there was at least an agreement to have another  meeting in Istanbul at the end of January.
The Istanbul talks underlined the wide divide and how  increasingly tough sanctions on Iran, a major oil producer, have  so far had little effect in persuading the Islamic state to  change course.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton raised the  possibility earlier this week of further increasing such  pressure, telling U.S. network ABC the Obama administration may  propose new unilateral measures against Iran.
But some analysts say it is unlikely that the U.S.-led drive  to isolate Iran and its hardline leaders, who use the nuclear  programme to rally nationalist support at home, will make the  country back down over its atomic activities soon.
Any U.S. push to again tighten such pressure on Iran may also  anger Russia, which voted for a fourth round of U.N. sanctions  last June, but which criticised subsequent unilateral steps by  the United States and the European Union.
Western officials and experts say the sanctions are hurting  the Iranian economy, even though a higher oil price may blunt  the impact.
Bruno Tertrais, an Iran expert at the Paris-based Foundation  for Strategic Research, said the most efficient sanctions had  been those implemented by Washington and the 27-nation EU, which  include measures targeting Iran’s vital oil and gas sectors.
The powers should consider declaring that the diplomatic  process would be over unless there is an agreement within three  months, he said.
“If the process were officially terminated, Western  countries would increase their pressure on Iran by imposing  additional unilateral sanctions,” Tertrais wrote in a blog on  Friday, while the Istanbul meeting was still in process.