“The Six’s” Guiding Principles in Negotiating with Iran

The recent negotiations in Vienna have shown that the principles driving the positions of the “The Six”--the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia--differ markedly from those of Iran. Based on several discussions with senior members of the Six, the principles underpinning a deal must include: 1) sufficient response time in case of violations; 2) a nuclear program meeting Iran’s practical needs; 3) adequate irreversibility of constraints; 4) stable provisions; and 5) adequate verification. The Six want to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful and remains so against a backdrop of Iran’s nearly twenty years of non-compliance with its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. These principles also reflect long experience in negotiating arms control and non-proliferation agreements and a recognition of the strengths and weaknesses in those agreements to date.

Iran on the other hand has emphasized the principles of cooperation and transparency. These principles are predicated on its assertion that its word should be trusted, namely its pronouncement that it will not build nuclear weapons. These principles also reflect its long standing view that any agreement should have constrained verification conditions and minimal impact on its nuclear programs, even allowing for their significant growth, despite the current lack of economic or practical justifications for such growth. The Six have rejected many of Iran’s negotiating positions because they can be undone on short order, offering little practical utility in constraining Iran’s future abilities to build nuclear weapons. The Six note that Iran on numerous occasions in the past has shown a willingness to stop cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and reverse agreed upon constraints. The Six simply cannot agree to lift a robust and painstakingly built international sanctions regime on Iran in return for inadequate and reversible constraints.

According to a senior U.S. official speaking about the recent negotiations in Vienna, Iran now has a chance to re-evaluate its positions and “come to terms with reality.” By many accounts, Iran made few tangible concessions in the negotiations so far, but Iran left the recent negotiations in Vienna understanding that the Six will remain steadfast on key positions limiting Iran’s nuclear programs.  But Iran can be expected to try to increase pressure on the Six to weaken their principles.  They must resist this pressure and remain loyal to their principles in order to obtain a good agreement.

The full report is available below.