Sergei Kiriyenko (R), head of the Russian state nuclear monopoly Rosatom, and head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation Ali Akbar Salehi shakes hands during a signing ceremony in Moscow, November 11, 2014. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov.Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/02/us-iran-energy-chiefs-join-nuclear-talks.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#ixzz3SSWMy9CR[/caption]
Geneva __ The head of Irans atomic energy organization and US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz joined Iran nuclear negotiations here for the first time Saturday (February 21), raising expectations that talks had reached a critical point. US Secretary of State John Kerry, however, sought to tamp down expectations that Iran and six world powers were close to finalizing a preliminiary political agreement, telling reporters that there were still significant gaps.
Ali Akbar Salehi, the MIT-educated head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and former Iranian foreign minister, joined this round of nuclear negotiations so that all the technical issues can be resolved at the highest level, a senior Iranian officialtoldnuclearenergy.ir, a semi official account for Irans nuclear negotiating team, led by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
It was our idea to bring Dr. Salehiand the Americans are bringing their Secretary of Energy as his counterpart, the senior Iranian officialsaid.
Also joining the Iranian delegation at this round of negotiations in Geneva is Hossein Fereydoon, the brother of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and a former Iranian diplomat in New York who is close with Zarif, Iranian officials said.
Read more here
This article was written byLaura Rozen for Al-Monitor on Feb. 21, 2015. Laura Rozenreports on foreign policy from Washington, DC,for Al-Monitor's Back Channel. She has written forYahoo! News, PoliticoandForeign Policy. On Twitter:@LRozen
