Big powers, Iran meet in Baghdad to ease nuclear standoff

[shawn703]

Source: CNBC

(Reuters) - World powers began talks with Iran on Wednesday to test its readiness under pressure of sanctions to scale back its nuclear program, seeking to ease a decade-old standoff and avert the threat of a Middle East war.

The stakes could hardly be higher: global oil markets are edgy over sanctions on Iran's vital crude exports and the possibility of Israeli strikes against its defiant arch-enemy, which has threatened reprisals if it comes under attack.

Wednesday's meeting between Iran and six world powers - the United States, Russia, China, Germany, France and Britain - was the second since diplomacy resumed in April in Istanbul after a 15-month hiatus, during which tensions soared.

The powers' overall goal is an Iranian agreement to measures that would allay suspicions it is trying in secret to design a nuclear weapon. Iran's priority in the negotiations will be to win relief from punitive economic sanctions.

Read more: http://m.cnbc.com/id/47532180

[cstanleytech]

1. I hope Iran is reasonable and gives up on the nuclear plants totally.

It would ease tensions in the region plus imo they really dont need it since if they could sell their oil on the open market freely they could easily use the revenue from it to invest in cleaner forms of energy like solar, wind and geothermal.
Heck if they manage it well enough they could could potentially be a major power once the oil reserves are largely gone.