Phase I :" No NEW Centrifuges = No new Sanctions!..."

Also from Laura Rosen this very interesting correspondence with Bijan Khajehpour, chairman of the Atieh Group, a group of consulting firms in Iran, [with his permission]:

"The 5+1 proposal to Iran proposes a "pre-negotiation" phase at which stage there would be a "freeze for freeze", i.e. Iran would not add any new centrifuges and the 5+1 would not introduce any new sanctions. In this phase, Iran would negotiate with 5+1 minus the US to prepare the grounds for full-fledged negotiations which would then include the US. In this phase, Iran can also comment on the agenda of the negotiations and introduce new topics (eg. Tehran could insist that the issue of an uranium enrichment consortium on Iranian soil be discussed with high priority). Iran can also focus on the "commonalities of the two proposals" as Dr. Mottaki has underlined a few times. Once the two sides agree to enter full-fledged negotiations including the US at the table, then Iran will have to suspend enrichment and the 5+1 will lift the existing UN sanctions.

All signs are that Iran will accept the 5+1 package with 1 important change, i.e. Iran will insist that the deadline for the pre-negotiation phase (i.e. 6 weeks) be adjusted. The important element for Tehran is that negotiations can start without suspension being their prerequisite.

Tehran has said a number of times that suspension cannot be a precondition, but it could be a result of negotiations. If the period of the pre-negotiations is extended, then Tehran and 5+1 could agree on a period of suspension in return for the lifting of sanctions which would pave the grounds for more intense negotiations on the other aspects in the two proposals."