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On to the Next Round Of Iran Nuclear Talks

After two grueling days of nuclear negotiations, diplomats from Iran and six world powers agreed on at least one thing, writes Laura Rozen. They were not yet ready to let the recently re-launched diplomatic process collapse.

European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton (L) meets with Iran's Chief Negotiator Saeed Jalili in Moscow, June 18, 2012. World powers began two days of talks with Iran on Monday to try to end a decade-long stand-off over Tehran's nuclear programme and avert the threat of a new war in the Middle East.  REUTERS/Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool  (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY)
European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton (L) meets with Iran's Chief Negotiator Saeed Jalili in Moscow, June 18, 2012. World powers began two days of talks with Iran on Monday to try to end a decade-long stand-off over Tehran's nuclear programme and avert the threat of a new war in the Middle East. — REUTERS/Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool

MOSCOW — After two grueling days of nuclear negotiations, diplomats from Iran and six world powers agreed on at least one thing: they were not yet ready to let the recently re-launched diplomatic process collapse.

That prospect had loomed over the third round of Iran nuclear talks this year, as Iranian negotiators for the first time gave a detailed response to an international proposal asking it to halt enriching uranium to 20 percent of the isotope needed for nuclear explosions. But while Iran engaged in the most substantive discussion of its nuclear program to date, Western diplomats said, the discussions also revealed daunting gaps in the two sides’ positions and worldviews that made some diplomats question whether Iran was serious about the negotiations.

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