The chalice that helped make possible the Iran nuclear deal

In a gesture of goodwill that helped lead to talks, the U.S. presented a gift to Iran: a silver chalice in the shape of a griffin that is thought to be an antiquity looted from an Iranian cave.

December 3, 2013 | Web First
By Christi Parsons | Los Angeles Times
Washington, D. C.
During Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's visit to the U.N. General Assembly meeting in September, a U.S. diplomat presented this griffin-shaped chalice to an Iranian counterpart. (Photo credit: Mehdi Moazen, Islamic Republic News Agency)

Many paths led to the international agreement to temporarily curb Iran's nuclear program: secret meetings in Oman, formal negotiations in Geneva, and a quiet encounter in New York involving two diplomats and an exquisite silver chalice in the shape of a mythical winged creature.

The latter session led in September to the return of the chalice to Iran, where officials hailed it as a gesture of friendship by the United States. The move was orchestrated by a mid-level diplomat at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations who devised a way to work around a 30-year absence in formal relations.

"I wasn't sure we could pull it off," he said. "They don't talk to us. We don't talk to them."

Read more at http://lat.ms/1bcS7O2

--Posted Dec. 3, 2013

During Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's visit to the U.N. General Assembly meeting in September, a U.S. diplomat presented this griffin-shaped chalice to an Iranian counterpart. (Photo credit: Mehdi Moazen, Islamic Republic News Agency)

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