There’s a chink of hope

FOR once, a PowerPoint presentation held the attention of its audience. On October 15th, Iran’s foreign minister (and chief nuclear negotiator), despite suffering from intense back pain, spent an hour laying out a timeline from initial confidence-building measures to a final deal. In return for limits on Iran’s nuclear programme, there would be recognition of its right to continue enriching uranium and relief from the sanctions that are crippling its economy. Both Muhammad Javad Zarif, the minister, and Abbas Araqchi, his deputy, who had follow-up discussions with America’s lead negotiator, Wendy Sherman, spoke in fluent English.

After years of frustration and an impasse in negotiations between Iran and six world powers (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, known as the P5+1), it is too soon to talk of a breakthrough. But the detail in Mr Zarif’s presentation, entitled “Closing an Unnecessary Crisis: Opening New Horizons”, and the seriousness with which the Iranians sought to address the West’s concerns about the military potential of their nuclear plans, were unprecedented. Hopes that the election of the relatively moderate Hassan Rohani as president in June might lead to a change in approach have been borne out. In a joint statement at the end of the two days of discussions, Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief who chairs the six-nation group, and Mr Zarif described them as “substantive and forward-looking”.