Washington has long said it will not negotiate with Iran until it first suspends uranium enrichment and insisted on Wednesday that Burns was travelling to Geneva to listen to Iran’s response and not negotiate.
Nonetheless, it will be the first time that the United States, which severed relations with Iran in 1980 after the Islamic revolution, will be present in the negotiations aimed at persuading Tehran to freeze uranium enrichment.
Also present will be representatives from the P5 plus one group: Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States— the five permanent members of the UN Security Council— and Germany.