US, EU see new hope for Iran nuclear talks

The European Union and the US are moving closer to resuming international talks with Iran on its disputed nuclear program, buoyed by recent changes in Tehran's leadership, officials said today.
"We are ready to come very quickly to talks," said EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who has led negotiations with Iran in recent years over allegations it is seeking to build a nuclear weapons program. "We really want to move now quickly to resolve this."
President Barack Obama said the election of centrist Hasan Rouhani as Iran's president in June offers "the opportunity to demonstrate in acts and not just words that ... they do not pursue nuclear weapons."

French President Francois Hollande, who was in St. Petersburg with Obama for the Group of 20 summit, said "we want to believe in the statements of the new president" who has sounded more conciliatory than his predecessor.
Rouhani yesterday confirmed that Iran's foreign ministry, led by Javad Zarif, a Western-educated diplomat, will direct nuclear talks with world powers, marking a shift away from the often more hawkish security officials who had previously set the negotiation strategy.
At a meeting of the EU's 28 foreign ministers in Vilnius, Ashton said she called Zarif and agreed to meet with him later this month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

While it is assumed that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will have the last word on the nuclear issue, Rouhani was elected on the promise of getting rid of the international sanctions that are crippling Iran's economy.

Analysts view the appointment of the foreign affairs ministry to lead the nuclear negotiations, instead of the Supreme National Security Council, as a sign that the new administration might be more willing to compromise with the West.
Also today, the EU General Court said it would throw out penalties imposed on eight Iranian banks and businesses for their alleged ties to Iran's nuclear program, because there wasn't sufficient evidence to justify the sanctions imposed by the bloc.

The court said the sanctions will stay in place for at least two months pending any appeal. If an appeal is filed by an EU government, the sanctions would remain binding until a ruling.