Teheran eyes tying centrifuges with fight against Islamic State militants

Iran is ready to work with the United States and its allies to stop Islamic State militants, but would like to see more flexibility on Iran's uranium enrichment program, senior Iranian officials told Reuters.

The comments from the officials, who asked not to be named, highlight how difficult it may be for Western powers to keep the nuclear negotiations separate from other regional conflicts. Iran wields influence in the Syrian civil war and on the Iraqi government, which is fighting the advance of Islamic State fighters.

Iran has sent mixed signals about its willingness to cooperate on defeating the Islamic State group, a hard-line Sunni Islamist group that has seized large swathes of territory across Syria and Iraq and is blamed for a wave of sectarian violence, beheadings and massacres of civilians.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said recently that he vetoed a US overture to the Islamic republic to work together on defeating the Islamic State group, but US officials said there was no such offer. In public, both Washington and Teheran have ruled out cooperating militarily in tackling the Islamic State threat.

But in private, Iranian officials have voiced a willingness to work with the US on the Islamic State issue, though not necessarily on the battlefield. US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday that Iran has a role to play in defeating the Islamic State group, indicating the US position may also be shifting.

A senior Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, "Iran is a very influential country in the region and can help in the fight against the (Islamic State) terrorists, ... but it is a two-way street. You give something, you take something."

Teheran rejects Western allegations that it is amassing the capability to produce atomic weapons under cover of a civilian nuclear energy program.

Another Iranian official echoed the remarks. Both officials said they would like the US and its Western allies to show flexibility on the number of atomic centrifuges Teheran could keep under any long-term deal that would lift sanctions in exchange for curbs on Teheran's nuclear program.

"Both sides can show flexibility that will lead to an acceptable number for everyone," the other Iranian official said.

Separate talks

Western officials told Reuters that Iran has not raised this idea in nuclear negotiations with China, the US, Britain, France, Germany and Russia that resumed in New York on Friday. Diplomats close to the talks say they are unlikely to settle in New York on a long-term accord that would lift sanctions in exchange for curbs on Iranian nuclear work.

The Western officials said it would be difficult for them to even discuss the point in the atomic negotiations as the US and its allies are determined to keep the nuclear negotiations focused exclusively on atomic issues as the Nov 24 deadline for a deal nears.

"We are seeing as we get closer to the end of the talks that the Iranians are tempted to bring other dossiers to the table," a senior Western diplomat said.

"They sometimes indicate that if there were to not be a (nuclear) deal, the other dossiers in region would be more complicated," he added. "The six are determined not to bring the other subjects to the nuclear negotiations table."

(China Daily 09/22/2014 page11)