US and partners to offer Iran new deal to avert nuclear crisis

The United States and its five partners will offer Iran a new deal with “significant new elements” when the parties meet next week in Kazakhstan to discuss the country's alleged nuclear program, a Western diplomat told reporters in London, according to Bloomberg.

The diplomat did not offer any more details about the new proposal, which comes as the Iranian Foreign Ministry sounded an optimistic note this week. Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes only but it has refused to allow United Nations inspectors to visit suspected nuclear facilities.

If the group of six nations “recognize our full rights for peaceful nuclear energy, this will show their goodwill,” spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters in Tehran, according to Bloomberg. “As for us, we will offer ways to remove concerns” about the nature of the nuclear program.

The new proposal comes ahead of the fourth round of talks since negotiations between Iran and the six nations – the U.S., Great Britain, Russia, China, Germany and France – resumed last year.

Separately, the Obama administration has been offering overtures to Iran, with Vice President Biden saying earlier this month that the U.S. “would be prepared to meet bilaterally with the Iranian leadership” under the right conditions.

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