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 Speaking to reporters before seeing U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry, Mohammad Jawad Zarif said the meeting would help gauge
whether both sides were ready to advance toward a deal to curb
Iran's nuclear work in exchange for sanctions relief.
"I think it's important. I think it will show the readiness of the
two parties to move forward and to speed up the process," Zarif told
reporters as he waited for Kerry, who arrived four minutes late for
their meeting at a Geneva hotel.
Iran and six world powers including Washington have renewed their
quest for an elusive nuclear deal after negotiators failed for the
second time in November to meet a self-imposed deadline.
The sought-after agreement, whose new deadline is June 30, would
gradually end sanctions imposed on Iran in exchange for verifiable
curbs on its uranium enrichment program to ensure it cannot be put
to developing nuclear bombs.
 The Islamic Republic says it wants only civilian energy from
enrichment, denying Western suspicions it has military goals.
Asked if he hoped they could reach agreement by July 1, Zarif said:
"That's why we are here. We'll see.
Zarif also sought to explain why Iranians are dismayed by the cover
of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo's Jan. 14 edition, which
features a cartoon of a tearful Prophet Mohammad with a sign "Je
suis Charlie" (I am Charlie) below the headline: "Tout est pardonné"
(All is forgiven).
Seventeen people died in violence in Paris last week that began with
a Jan. 7 attack by two Islamist gunmen on the offices of Charlie
Hebdo, in which 12 people were killed including the journal's top
cartoonists, and ended with a siege at a kosher supermarket on Jan.
9 in which four people died. A policewoman was also shot dead
elsewhere on the street. All three gunmen involved were killed in
raids by French special forces.
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At least 3.7 million people marched through France on Sunday in
memory of the victims and in support of free expression. However,
depictions of Mohammad are regarded as blasphemous by many Muslims.
"Unless we learn to respect one another, it will be very difficult
in a world of different views and different cultures and
civilizations, we won't be able to engage in a serious dialogue if
we start disrespecting each other's values," Zarif said. "We believe
that sanctities need to be respected.
"I think we would have a much safer, much more prudent world if we
were to engage in serious dialogue, serious debate about our
differences, and then we will find out that what binds us together
is far greater than what divides us," he said.
Kerry, accompanied by a team of U.S. negotiators including Acting
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Bill Burns, the former
number two U.S. diplomat, did not speak to reporters though he
apologized to Zarif for arriving late.
Al Qaeda in Yemen claimed responsibility for the shooting attack on
Charlie Hebdo, saying it was ordered by the Islamist militant
group's leadership for insulting the Prophet Mohammad, according to
a video posted on YouTube.
(Reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Writing by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing
by Mark Heinrich)
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