A senior Iranian negotiator today said that talks between Iran and the European Union on Tehran's nuclear program are more difficult than ever and their chances of success are only "50-50."
Hossein Mousavian, speaking after preparatory talks with European officials in Brussels, said there was "n-o guarantee for reaching an agreement." The foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will meet top Iranian negotiator Hassan Rohani in Geneva on Wednesday to try to rescue the talks.
Solana's spokeswoman Christina Gallach told RFE/RL the EU was "optimistic" about the outcome of Wednesday's talks. She said: "This is a very important issue for the European Union, for Iran, and for the whole of the international community. We are always, by definition, optimistic but, at the same time, we are tenacious and we'd like very much to see this process through, moving ahead. Therefore, we look at the meeting tomorrow with the best eyes and with the best preparations and let's hope that more meetings will come because the negotiations will continue until we reach a final agreement."
In Tehran, foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi warned that tomorrow's session could bring an end to the talks if Europeans don't have what he called "a clear proposal."
