US, Iran may use nuclear talks to discuss Iraq

Washington said Monday it might use a critical fifth round of nuclear talks between Iran and world powers to discuss with Tehran possible cooperation tackling a Sunni insurgency in Iraq.
The United States and Iran, who have been bitter foes for over 30 years, are both deeply concerned by a major insurgency by Sunni militants who have overrun swathes of Iraq over the past week.
A senior US administration official said that as a result "there may be some conversations" with Iranian negotiators on the sidelines of nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers in Vienna on Monday.
Present in Vienna were US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, who last year held secret nuclear talks with Iran in 2013, and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
Zarif was a key interlocutor between Shiite Iran and the US government after the September 11, 2001 attacks, when both sides were keen to oust the hardline Sunni Muslim Taliban in Afghanistan.
"The US and Iran discussed Afghanistan .. so from time to time there have been times where it makes sense to be part of a conversation," the US official said.
"But I think that the fundamentals remain as they are, which is that until we resolve the nuclear issue there cannot be any kind of fundamental change in this relationship," she said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry told Yahoo News on Monday that he would be open to cooperating with Iran over Iraq, saying he "wouldn’t rule out anything that would be constructive".
The main focus in the Austrian capital remains however efforts towards a nuclear deal with only five weeks before a July 20 deadline to sign on the dotted line.
- Nuclear focus -
The five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany want Tehran to scale back its nuclear activities, while Iran wants all UN and Western sanctions to be lifted.
This long hoped-for accord would aim to once and for all silence fears that Tehran might develop nuclear weapons, and avert a slide into international conflict.
Both sides caution that there is a long way to go as negotiators confront the same sticking points that have dogged diplomatic efforts for the past decade.
The senior US official said however that contrary to the general assessment by experts, both sides actually began to draft a deal at their last meeting in May.
- Thorny issues -
"A little bit of that was done the last time, and it was expected more will take place during this round," the official said.
She added that in US-Iranian bilateral talks last week, both sides "not only understood each other better ... but I think we both can see places where we might be able to close the gaps".
The many thorny issues to be resolved in what would be a fiendishly complex deal include the duration of the mooted accord and the pace of sanctions relief.
But the gorilla in the room remains uranium enrichment, a process that can produce nuclear fuel but also, when highly purified, the core of an atomic bomb.
Iran wants to massively increase the number of centrifuges -- the machines that enrich -- saying it needs them to produce the fuel for a future fleet of civilian nuclear plants.
- Extra time -
The West says these are years if not decades away from being built, fearing that Iran's real aim is to use its centrifuges to enrich uranium to weapons-grade -- -- something Tehran denies.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said last week that the West wants Iran to slash the number of centrifuges to "several hundred" from 20,000 now, of which 10,000 are operating.
"We are not even in the same ballpark," said Fabius.
Under an interim deal struck in November, Iran agreed to freeze certain nuclear activities for six months in return for minor sanctions relief.
This comes to an end on July 20 but it can be renewed -- if both sides agree. Experts say such an extension is likely already under discussion.
The senior US official said however denied this, saying negotiators are "not having discussions now" about such a move.
US President Barack Obama would much prefer to get a deal by July 20 in order to fend off accusations that Iran is merely buying time ahead of midterm US elections in November.
"It will be in the interest of everyone if a deal is signed in the next five weeks," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday.