IRAN, ISRAEL: Avowed enemies allegedly held secret nuclear talks

[Cees Binkhorst]

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http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2009/10/iran-israel-avowed-enemies-allegedly-held-secret-nuclear-talks.html

IRAN, ISRAEL: Avowed enemies allegedly held secret nuclear talks
October 22, 2009

Reports are surfacing about a meeting that allegedly took place between an
Israeli atomic expert and a senior Iranian official in Cairo in September
to discuss the possibility of making the Middle East a nuclear-free zone.

The talks, vehemently denied by Iranians but confirmed by Israelis, were
reportedly held behind closed doors at the Four Seasons Hotel in Cairo
under Australian auspices and would be the first direct negotiations
between the two archenemies since the ousting of the shah in Iran in 1979.

Although participants in the meeting had “committed to complete secrecy,”
as the Israeli daily Haaretz reported, the talks ended up being leaked by
Australian sources to the Australian daily the Age, which broke the story
on the purported Cairo meetings in a little-noticed Oct. 16 report.

Israel said today that the meeting had in fact taken place. The
spokeswoman for Israel's Atomic Energy Commission, Yael Doron, told AFP
news service that the agency’s representative conducted several meetings
with an Iranian official "in a regional context" under Australia's
tutelage.

Tehran, on the other hand, has denied that it held nuclear talks with the
Jewish state. "This lie is a kind of psychological operation designed to
affect the constant success of Iran's dynamic diplomacy in the Geneva and
Vienna meetings," AFP quoted atomic organization spokesman Ali Shirzadian
as saying.

Shirzadian was referring to the talks held in the Swiss and Austrian
capitals over the last few weeks between Iran and six world powers on the
Islamic Republic’s nuclear enrichment program.

In their detailed reports, Haaretz and the Age say the Israeli atomic
commission's director of policy and arms control, Meirav Zafary-Odiz, and
Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's delegate to the International Atomic Energy
Agency met several times in Cairo on Sept. 29 and 30.

Also at the meeting were representatives of other countries, including
delegates from the Arab League, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Morocco,
the United Arab Emirates and Saudia Arabia, as well as European and U.S.
officials, the reports said.

The Israel-Iran discussions were part of the International Commission on
Nuclear Non-Proliferation, an expert panel established on the initiative
of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. The commission is currently
headed by former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans and former
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi.

Former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, a member of the
organization’s advisory committee, also participated in the Cairo nuclear
talks between Israel and Iran, although in a nonofficial role, the Age
reported.

According to Haaretz, the discussions between the Iranian and Israeli
representatives took place in the form of three panel sessions on nuclear
issues in the region. Themes included chances of declaring the Middle East
a nuclear-free zone, preventing further nuclear proliferation in the
region, and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

In one of the exchanges between the two parties, Soltanieh is said to have
directly asked Zafary-Odiz, "Do you or do you not have nuclear weapons?"

The Israeli atomic expert smiled but did not respond.

In the discussions, Soltanieh said Iran was not seeking to develop nuclear
weapons and did not endanger Israel. He emphasized that Tehran did not
hate Jews, although it opposes Zionism. He added that Israel did not
understand the “mentality” and “ideology” of the Iranian regime, said the
Haaretz report.

Zafary-Odiz, for her part, explained the Israeli policy of being “willing”
to discuss the Middle East as a nuclear-free zone. But she stressed that
regional security must be strengthened and that security arrangements must
be agreed upon before Israel would start discussing the topic.

The two high-level delegates are thought to have impressed diplomats from
the region who observed the discussion, said the Age.

The reports of the Cairo meeting coincide with a new draft deal brokered
in Vienna that is hoped will help ease tensions over Iran’s nuclear
program.

On Wednesday, the U.N. atomic watchdog handed Iran and six world powers a
draft agreement for Iran to ship to Russia and France the majority of its
nuclear stockpile to be processed for medical uses.

The deal was brokered after intensive talks among Iran, Russia, the United
States and France, according to the U.N. atomic monitor. It is hoped the
deal will alleviate fears that the uranium produced by Iran despite loud
protests from the United Nations and international community could be used
to build a nuclear bomb.

 -- Alexandra Sandels in Beirut

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