On the right track

The new round of talks on the Iranian nuclear issue, held in Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday, could be a starting point for the international community to continue building on the current conciliatory momentum in the Middle East. As long as parties involved can view the issue from the larger perspective of regional peace and stability, a breakthrough in the decades-old impasse might not be a mission impossible.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks to the media after the negotiations on Iran's nuclear issue in Geneva, Switzerland, Oct 16 2013. [Photo / Xinhua]

With Syria now on the right track of chemical weapons disarmament, the world appears to be more confident in securing a political resolution to the Iranian nuclear deadlock. If any progress could be made in this week's negotiations between Iran and the European Union-chaired P5+1 group - the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia, plus Germany - it would be a double blessing to the crisis-ridden region.

Signs of reconciliation in the tone of the US and Iran have recently driven up expectations on the talks. In fact, the atmosphere for resolving the Iran issue through negotiations has never been so promising.

Last month, US President Barack Obama and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani held telephone talks during the UN General Assembly in New York, the first contact between the two countries' presidents for more than three decades.

Continuing the positive signs of engagement, Iran's lead negotiator Abbas Araqchi and his US counterpart Wendy Sherman met Tuesday evening in Geneva, the first direct talks between the two countries' nuclear negotiators since 2009.

On Iran's part, Rouhani has pledged transparency on the nuclear program and showed willingness to improve the country's relations with the West since his election in June. During Tuesday's talks, the Islamic country put forward a new proposal, which, it said, has the capacity to make a breakthrough.

The crux of the Iran issue is the decades-old animosity between Washington and Teheran. The P5+1 mechanism provides a ready venue for the two sides to conduct meaningful communication, listen to each other's concerns and build trust. The parties concerned and the world at large should not miss any opportunity to sustain the momentum and push for a win-win outcome.

As a member of the P5+1 group, China is committed to making constructive efforts to promote the peace talks with an objective, impartial and responsible stance so that a pragmatic and viable solution to the issue could be found.

(China Daily 10/17/2013 page8)