The possibility that Iran is seeking to develop a nuclear weapon and the reality that it is building a capability for enriching uranium continue to raise tensions in the Middle East and could push other countries in the region to move in the same direction. In my view the issue of nuclear weapons is not really of great importance for today's negotiations. After all, even if there were no such ambition now, Iran could change its mind next year and would then have come closer to a weapon by the progress made in the enrichment programme.

The conclusion is that it remains desirable to persuade Iran to abandon enrichment. But we do not know if this would be possible under any circumstances. Only direct talks will show this, and it is sad that such talks did not begin much earlier....