Iran and the P5+1 nations — permanent U.N. Security Council members America, Russia, China, France, and England, and Germany — are holding talks this weekend over Iran's nuclear program. The Istanbul summit represents the first Iran nuclear talks in a year and a half, but expectations for a breakthrough aren't especially high, given the players' competing interests and goals, the looming U.S. presidential election, and past negotiating failures. At the same time, crippling economic sanctions are inflicting real pain on Iran, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei recently stated that nuclear weapons are "a grave sin," and "logically, religiously and theoretically" antithetical to the Iranian regime. Might diplomacy prevail?
We might just see a breakthrough: "There is too much pessimism in the air" about these talks, says Fareed Zakaria in The Washington Post. "A robust deal is possible," if everyone gets something they want. Perhaps Iran will allow unfettered U.N. nuclear inspections, and the West will let Iran develop civilian nuclear power but no weapons, while easing sanctions as the U.N. team ensures compliance. Iran's hardliners are apparently on board, so the "most formidable" obstacle may be convincing Washington.
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