A solution to Iran's nuclear issue remains elusive after the high-level talks in Geneva on Saturday between six major powers and Iran achieved only "insufficient" progress.
Significant progress is unlikely unless the key parties involved in the issue are ready to show more flexibility and make substantial compromise, analysts say.
NO MAJOR POLICY SHIFT
The United States has indeed injected some hope of progress at the nuclear talks by sending U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns to the one-day meeting in Geneva, which was also attended by Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and senior diplomats from China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany.
Even though Burns' meeting with Jalili on Saturday was the highest-level contact between the two nations since 1979, it did not signal a significant shift in Washington's policy toward Iran.
The White House has reiterated that Washington would not join full-blown talks unless Iran gave up uranium enrichment activities.
But analysts added that the U.S. decision to send the third highest ranking official in the State Department to the meeting shows that the Washington remains convinced that diplomatic talks rather than military action are still the best way to seek a solution to Iran's nuclear issue.
As the U.S. troops are bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan, Washington is keen to see some progress in efforts to solve Iran's nuclear issue, especially before President George W. Bush leaves office in January. And a peaceful resolution of the crisis could be seen as a big achievement for Bush's presidency.
White House spokesperson Dana Perino said before the talks that the U.S. official would not be in Geneva to negotiate, and more sanctions were still possible if Iran rejected the incentives.
"We will be there to listen, (and) we are not there to negotiate," she said.
"Nothing has changed," Perino said. "If they do not accept this offer (of suspending uranium enrichment first), one, there will not be negotiations and two, there will be additional sanctions," she said.
