New Round Of Negotiations Needed As Iran Nuclear Deal Hits A Snag

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GENEVA -- GENEVA (AP) — France raised questions Saturday about whether a proposed deal to temporarily curb Iran's nuclear program went far enough, complicating negotiations with the Iranians and casting doubt on whether an agreement could be reached during the current round of negotiations.

Chances of that appeared to diminish as the day went on.

A Western diplomat in Geneva for the talks told The Associated Press it appeared that a new round of negotiations would be needed to agree on all points of a startup deal meant to lead to a comprehensive agreement ensuring that Tehran's nuclear work remains peaceful.

He said preparations were being made by both sides for an announcement later in the day of a new meeting within a few weeks. He said earlier that the French were holding out for conditions on the Iranians tougher than those agreed to by the U.S. and France's other negotiating partners, diminishing hopes of a done deal Saturday.

However, the talks in Geneva were still underway, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, and foreign ministers from Britain, France, Germany and Russia meeting with one another, and some of them with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Baodong Li also arrived Friday evening.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius spoke of "several points that ... we're not satisfied with compared to the initial text," telling France-Inter Radio his nation does not want to be part of a "con game."

He did not specify, but his comments suggested France thought a final draft of any first-step deal was too favorable to Iran, echoing concerns raised by Israel and several prominent U.S. legislators.

The French position was confirmed by another Western diplomat. Both gave no specifics and demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on the diplomatic maneuvering.

Iranian state TV strongly criticized the French position, calling France "Israel's representatives at the talks."

The United States and the five other powers in negotiations with Iran aimed at freezing its nuclear program normally keep disputes among themselves, so the public show of French disagreement was unusual.

Optimism about an interim agreement had been high when the talks were extended for a third day on Saturday and raised to a ministerial level.

Fabius' remarks by telephone from Geneva were the first to provide some specifics on the obstacles at the talks.

Fabius mentioned differences over Iran's Arak reactor southeast of Tehran, which could produce enough plutonium for several nuclear weapons a year once it goes online. He also said there was disagreement over efforts to limit Iran's uranium enrichment to levels that would require substantial further enriching before they could be used as the fissile core of a nuclear weapon.

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal pointed to "rather large cohesion" among the negotiators and said France wanted "the international community to see a serious change in the climate" of talks with Iran.

"There have been years of talks that have led to nothing," Nadal said, alluding to the need for tough terms on Iran.

Iran, which denies any interest in nuclear weapons, currently runs more than 10,000 centrifuges that have created tons of fuel-grade material that can be further enriched to arm nuclear warheads.

It also has nearly 440 pounds (200 kilograms) of higher-enriched uranium in a form that can be turned into weapons much more quickly. Experts say 550 pounds (250 kilograms) of that 20 percent-enriched uranium are needed to produce a single warhead.

Iran says it expects Arak, the plutonium producing reactor, to be completed and go online sometime next year. It would need additional facilities to reprocess the plutonium into weapons-grade material, and the U.N's nuclear agency monitoring Iran's atomic activities says it has seen no evidence of such a project.

Fabius said Iran is opposed to suspending work on Arak while nuclear negotiations go on in an attempt to reach a first-stage agreement, then a comprehensive final deal limiting Tehran's atomic work. He said that "for us" suspension was absolutely necessary, but it was unclear if that meant France was alone in seeing the issue as non-negotiable or whether he was speaking for the rest of the negotiating group.

Iran also is being asked to blend down "a great part of this stock at 20 percent, to 5 percent," Fabius said. Uranium enriched to 5 percent is considered reactor fuel grade and upgrading it to weapons-level takes much longer than for 20 percent enriched uranium.

Fabius suggested that the six powers were looking for an Iranian commitment to cap future enrichment at 5 percent.

"We are hoping for a deal, but for the moment there are still issues that have not been resolved," he said.

Signaling that the talks could end without agreement, British Foreign Secretary William Hague spoke of unresolved issues and told reporters "there is no fixed time for us to reach a conclusion."

Any agreement would be a breakthrough after nearly a decade of mostly inconclusive talks, but would only be the start of a long process to reduce Iran's potential ability to produce nuclear arms, with no guarantee of ultimate success.

Kerry and his European counterparts arrived in Geneva on Friday with the talks at a critical stage following a full day of negotiations Thursday, and he said some obstacles remained in the way of any agreement offering sanctions reductions for nuclear concessions.

The presence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the Chinese deputy foreign minister provided fresh hope for at least an interim deal.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted Friday that any agreement in the making was a "bad deal" that gave Iran a pass by offering to lift sanctions for cosmetic concessions that he said left intact Tehran's nuclear weapons-making ability. Israel is strongly critical of any deal that even slightly lifts sanctions unless Iran is totally stripped of technology that can make nuclear arms.

Asked about Netanyahu's criticism, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Friday "any critique of the deal is premature" because an agreement has not been reached.

The White House later said President Barack Obama called Netanyahu to update him on the ongoing talks and that Obama affirmed he's still committed to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The White House said Obama and Netanyahu would stay in close contact.

On Friday, Kerry tempered reports of progress, warning of "important gaps" that must be overcome. But Lavrov's deputy, Sergei Ryabov, was quoted then as saying that Moscow expects them to produce a "lasting result expected by the international community."

The talks primarily focus on the size and output of Iran's enrichment program, which can create both reactor fuel and weapons-grade material suitable for a nuclear bomb. Iran insists it is pursuing only nuclear energy, medical treatments and research, but the U.S. and its allies fear that Iran could turn this material into the fissile core of nuclear warheads.

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Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten in Paris; Ali Akbar Dareini in Tehran, Iran; and George Jahn in Geneva contributed.

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Obama Berlin Speech Renews Calls For Nuclear Reductions

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BERLIN — Appealing for a new citizen activism in the free world, President Barack Obama renewed his call Wednesday to reduce U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles and to confront climate change, a danger he called "the global threat of our time."

In a wide-ranging speech that enumerated a litany of challenges facing the world, Obama said he wanted to reignite the spirit that Berlin displayed when it fought to reunite itself during the Cold War.

"Today's threats are not as stark as they were half a century ago, but the struggle for freedom and security and human dignity, that struggle goes on," Obama said at the city's historic Brandenburg Gate under a bright, hot sun. "And I come here to this city of hope because the test of our time demands the same fighting spirit that defined Berlin a half-century ago."

The president called for a one-third reduction of U.S. and Russian deployed nuclear weapons, saying it is possible to ensure American security and a strong deterrent while also limiting nuclear weapons.

Obama's address comes nearly 50 years after John F. Kennedy's famous Cold War speech in this once-divided city. Shedding his jacket and at times wiping away beads of sweat, the president stood behind a bullet-proof pane and addressed a crowd of about 4,500, reading from paper because the teleprompter wasn't working.

It was a stark contrast to the speech the president delivered in the city in 2008, when he summoned a crowd of 200,000 to embrace his vision for American leadership. Whereas that speech soared with his ambition, this time Obama came to caution his audience not to fall into self-satisfaction.

"Complacency is not the character of great nations," Obama insisted.

"Today," he said, "people often come together in places like this to remember history, not to make it. Today we face no concrete walls or barbed wire."

The speech came just one week shy of the anniversary of Kennedy's famous Cold War speech in which he denounced communism with his declaration "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner). Obama, clearly aware that he was in Kennedy's historic shadow, asked his audience to heed the former president's message.

"If we lift our eyes as President Kennedy calls us to do, then we'll recognize that our work is not yet done," he said. "So we are not only citizens of America or Germany, we are also citizens of the world."

Obama spoke repeatedly of seeking "peace with justice" around the world by confronting intolerance, poverty, Middle East conflicts and economic inequality.

But even before his speech, White House aides were drawing attention to his call for nuclear reductions, casting it as the centerpiece of his address.

"Peace with justice means pursuing the security of a world without nuclear weapons, no matter how distant that dream may be," Obama said.

"We can ensure the security of America and our allies and maintain a strong and credible strategic deterrent while reducing our deployed strategic nuclear weapons by up to one-third," he said.

Signaling a new effort to pick up his delayed environmental agenda, Obama also issued a call to tackle climate change, an issue he has promised to make a priority since his 2008 presidential campaign.

"Peace with justice means refusing to condemn our children to a harsher, less hospitable planet," he said.

He said the U.S. has expanded renewable energy from clean sources and is doubling automobile fuel efficiency. But he said that without more action by all countries, the world faces what he called a grim alternative of more severe storms, famine, floods, vanishing coastlines and displaced refugees.

"This is the future we must avert," he said. "This is the global threat of our time."

Among those in the audience, Doro Zinke, president of the Berlin-Brandenburg trade union federation, said she heard nothing unexpected in Obama's speech.

"I think he's really got to deliver now," she said.

But others gave him credit for just coming to Berlin, five years into his presidency.

"The most important message here was that he came to Berlin and spoke to us and the world," said Catharina Haensch, a Berliner born in the communist east of the city who now works for the Fulbright Commission. "Even If it looks like he isn't able to fulfill all of his promises, you've got to keep on hoping."

Obama, who was attending an official dinner hosted by Merkel before returning to Washington, said he intends to seek negotiated cuts to deployed nuclear weapons with Russia, thus steering away from any unilateral U.S. reductions. Moreover, Obama said he would work with NATO allies to seek "bold reductions" in U.S. and Russian tactical weapons in Europe. Obama could face objections among NATO countries where many strongly oppose removing U.S. nuclear weapons because they worry that the Russians have a far greater number of tactical nuclear weapons within range of their territory.

In Washington, reaction was mixed.

Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, welcomed Obama's announcement, saying that reducing nuclear weapons "will improve our national security, while maintaining our nuclear triad and our ability to deter and respond to any perceived or real nuclear threat.

But Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, accused Obama of appeasement in endorsing further reductions in nuclear weapons, saying the president "seems only concerned with winning the approval of nations like Russia, who will applaud a weakened United States."

Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, said Secretary of State John Kerry called him on Tuesday and reassured him that any further reductions in nuclear weapons would not be done unilaterally. Rather, the cuts would be part of treaty negotiations subject to a Senate vote.

Corker criticized Obama's move without additional modernization of the arsenal.

"The president's announcement without first fulfilling commitments on modernization could amount to unilateral disarmament," Corker said. "The president should follow through on full modernization of the remaining arsenal and pledges to provide extended nuclear deterrence before engaging in any additional discussions."

The president discussed non-proliferation with Russian President Vladimir Putin when they met Monday on the sidelines of the Group of 8 summit in Northern Ireland. During Obama's first term, the U.S. and Russia agreed to limit their deployed weapons to 1,550 as part of the New START Treaty.

In Moscow, Russian foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said that plans for any further arms reduction would have to involve countries beyond Russia and the United States.

"The situation is now far from what it was in the `60s and `70s, when only the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union discussed arms reduction," Ushakov said.

Alexei Pushkov, head of the Duma's foreign affairs committee, told the Interfax news agency the president's proposals need "serious revision so that they can be seen by the Russian side as serious and not as propaganda proposals."

Obama's calls for cooperation with Moscow come at a time of tension between the U.S. and Russia, which are supporting opposite sides in Syria's civil war. Russia also remains wary of U.S. missile defense plans in Europe, despite U.S. assurances that the shield is not aimed at Moscow.

Germany's foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, is a strong advocate of nuclear disarmament and has long called for the removal of the last U.S. nuclear weapons from German territory, a legacy of the Cold War. The Buechel Air Base in western Germany is one of a few remaining sites in Europe where they are based.

Under an agreement drawn up when they formed a coalition government in 2009, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and Westerwelle's Free Democratic Party agreed to press NATO and Washington for the nuclear weapons to be withdrawn, but did not set any timeframe.

Nuclear stockpile numbers are closely guarded secrets in most nations that possess them, but private nuclear policy experts say no countries other than the U.S. and Russia are thought to have more than 300. The Federation of American Scientists estimates that France has about 300, China about 240, Britain about 225, and Israel, India and Pakistan roughly 100 each.

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Associated Press writers Frank Jordans and Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.

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Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

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China Tried To Convince North Korea To Stop Conducting Nuclear Tests: Source

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By Benjamin Kang Lim

BEIJING, June 4 (Reuters) - China told an envoy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that Pyongyang should stop conducting nuclear and missile tests, but the North showed little sign of heeding the request, said a source with knowledge of the talks held late last month.

Kim dispatched Choe Ryong-hae, vice chairman of the country's top military body, to explain North Korea's recent actions but he got a lukewarm reception from his Chinese hosts, said the source, who has close ties to Beijing and Pyongyang.

North Korea's 30-year-old leader took power in December 2011 and has carried out two long-range rocket launches and a nuclear weapons test since then. He also embarked on a months-long campaign of threats against South Korea and the United States.

"(North) Korea has not mellowed," said the source, who did not attend the meetings but has since spoken to both sides to which he has regular access.

Choe, nominally a general but with no known military experience, is the Korean People's Army's top ideologue. He showed up in Beijing in full military regalia, in contrast to his suited Chinese counterparts.

Experts have said the three-day visit was an attempt by North Korea to mend fences with its only major diplomatic ally, which has been critical of Pyongyang.

After the meetings, in which Choe eventually held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korea promised to take "positive steps for peace" while China repeated its mantra of wanting "calm and restraint" on the Korean peninsula.

FOCUS ON ECONOMY, NORTH TOLD

Beijing tried to convince Pyongyang to stop its nuclear and missile tests, which "put China in a difficult position and are not conducive to (North) Korea", the source said. China advised North Korea to focus on rebuilding its ruined economy instead, something it has said before.

North Korea's recent actions drew international condemnation and put Beijing under pressure, especially from Washington, to rein in Pyongyang. It also helped reinforce an American strategy of rebalancing its security policies toward the Asia-Pacific.

China is North Korea's biggest trade partner and aid donor. Choe was shown a special enterprise zone during his visit, but he did not raise the issue of aid during his talks, the source added.

Asked if Pyongyang had agreed to halt nuclear tests, the source said that for the North: "It hinges on necessity."

North Korea has repeatedly said it will never abandon its nuclear weapons, calling them its "treasured sword".

The source did not say if Beijing spelt out any consequences should the North conduct further tests.

Choe met officials from the Chinese government, the military and ruling Communist Party.

China has grown increasingly frustrated with Pyongyang. It agreed to new U.N. sanctions after Pyongyang's latest nuclear test in February, and Chinese banks have curbed business with their North Korean counterparts in the wake of U.S. sanctions on the country's main foreign exchange bank.

A former senior U.S. official said Beijing's insistence that North Korea halt testing would be in line with recent signs it was running out of patience with Pyongyang.

"What I've heard from talking to Chinese officials and American officials who are talking to them is that top Chinese officials now emphasize that the principal goal is to terminate the nuclear weapons programme of North Korea," the ex-official said.

"Usually, in the past that's been buried (by the Chinese)."

Choe presented a hand-written letter from Kim to Xi. Chinese media gave no details of its contents at the time, but the source close to Pyongyang and Beijing described it as "terse".

Kim stressed in his letter that "the traditional friendship created by the older generation of revolutionary leaders should not waver at any time", said the source.

China has backed North Korea since Mao Zedong sent Chinese troops to bolster Communist forces under then North Korean leader Kim Il-sung - Kim Jong-un's grandfather - during the 1950-53 Korean war.

The nuclear and rocket tests and verbal threats were partly aimed at forcing the United States and South Korea to sign a permanent peace treaty with North Korea to replace the armistice agreement that ended that conflict, the source said.

HANDSHAKES, NOT HUGS

North Korea felt the reception Choe got was lukewarm, said the source. It was the most important visit to China by a North Korean delegation since the young Kim's uncle, a kingmaker among Pyongyang's ruling elite, visited Beijing in late 2012.

"There was no bear hug between Wang Jiarui and Choe when they met," the source noted, referring to the Chinese Communist Party's International Department minister, who is responsible for dealing with foreign political parties. Such greetings have been a tradition between North Korean and Chinese leaders, who once saw their relationship as "close as lips and teeth".

China has repeatedly urged North Korea to return to the so-called six-party talks, which are aimed at getting Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.

Choe told the Chinese this format did not work. In 2009, Pyongyang said it would never return to the talks, which also included South Korea, the United States, Japan and Russia.

North Korea would instead seek bilateral talks with the various parties first, said the source, without elaborating.

Abandoning its nuclear weapons programme could not be a prerequisite for talks, Choe told his hosts.

That makes talks with Washington a non-starter since U.S. officials say North Korea must take meaningful steps on denuclearisation before there can be dialogue.

KIM FIRMLY IN CHARGE, CHINESE TOLD

Choe told his Chinese hosts that Kim had consolidated his power since the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, in December 2011, through the weapons tests and war threats that saw Pyongyang put its armed forces on alert this year.

There has been repeated speculation that the North's young leader had been challenged by some elements in the military, although these assessments have been impossible to verify given the closed nature of North Korea.

"Through mobilising troops, Kim Jong-un wanted to see who obeyed and who refused to obey his command," the source said.

Just under a year ago, Kim ousted Vice Marshal Ri Yong-ho, North Korea's leading military figure, as army chief of staff. A couple of days later North Korean media named Kim as marshal of the army.

"Many (officers) have been rounded up or sacked. Ri Yong-ho was arrested on counter-revolutionary crimes," the source said. He declined to say if Ri was jailed or executed.

"There had been some opposition to Kim Jong-un when he was named marshal. He has gotten rid of this." (Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Washington. Writing by Dean Yates. Editing by David Chance and Mark Bendeich)

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