Iranian Nuclear Talks Begin

Representatives from Iran arrived in a secluded villa in the countryside near Geneva to begin a critical round of nuclear negotiations with the Western powers today. In attendance were reps from the five UN Security Council states, Germany, and the EU. The US is looking for “practical steps and measurable results,” one American official tells the New York Times. These can’t be “talks just for the sake of talks,” especially after the Qom revelations.

Most expect some concession out of Tehran. “They may feel they need to show themselves to be more interested in cooperation,” said one European official. “It's fine to be defiant but Iran does not want to be isolated.” In a possible show of good will, Iran’s foreign minister visited Washington yesterday for the first time in a decade. “It’s an unusual coincidence,” said a State Department spokesman. “Whether it’s a happy coincidence, we’ll see.” (More Iran stories.)