US delegation arrives in Geneva for Iran talks

"American diplomats have arrived in Geneva ahead of international talks tomorrow with Iran.

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns is leading the U.S. delegation, accompanied by State Department Special Advisor for Arms Control and Nonprolifetation Robert Einhorn, arms control advisor Steve Mull, and the National Security Council’s Senior Director for Iran, Iraq and the Persian Gulf Puneet Talwar. State Department spokesman Robert Wood and White House spokesman Tommy Vietor are also there.

The Washington delegation is being joined in Geneva by their counterparts from France, Germany, the UK, Russia, and China, -- the so called P5+1 -- as well as the group’s long time envoy, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, the official host of the gathering.

The Iranian delegation is led by nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, and Ali Bagheri, the foreign policy chief of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. 

The Swiss Foreign Ministry has set up shop at Geneva's Intercontinental Hotel, near the UN and Iranian missions, while tomorrow's talks are expected to take place at the Hotel de Ville, just outside of town.

The whole thing is still shrouded in secrecy, one colleague at the scene said, but that could be because discussions are still taking place among allies about how exactly the whole thing should proceed. "Still early, nothing to report," one official said this morning.