(CNN) -- A breakthrough deal on Iran's nuclear program could be on the horizon -- even though Western allies are splintered on the terms.
Negotiators met Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss a proposed deal that would loosen economic sanctions against Tehran in exchange for a suspension of part of its nuclear program.
The Geneva talks involve Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- the United States, Russia, China, Great Britain and France -- as well as Germany in what is known as the P5+1 in diplomatic shorthand.
A State Department delegation arrived in Geneva Wednesday morning, an official from that department said. The U.S. team held meetings with their P5+1 counterparts, before a planned plenary session, the official said. Background briefings were expected to be held afterward, the official said.
The plenary session was short -- about 10 minutes -- but it was that way by design, officials said.
One senior U.S. official said the initial meeting was meant as a "kickoff" to meatier talks.
"The atmosphere is positive," the official said, adding that the Western powers expressed condolences for a bombing that happened near the Iranian Embassy in Beirut.
"We are not in a rush," the official said. "We want to get a good deal, the right deal."
One sticking point has been Iran's insistence on enriching its own uranium for peaceful purposes. The U.S. official said the issue "can be navigated in an agreement."
U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice said the plan would benefit the global community.
"The international community would have unprecedented access to Iran's nuclear facilities and full transparency into what they're doing, so they wouldn't have the ability to sneak out or break out," Rice said.
But Israel, the United States' closest ally in the region, staunchly opposes the tentative plan.
"It's a bad deal -- an exceedingly bad deal," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN this week.
Netanyahu opposes lifting some sanctions now without getting further concessions to ensure Iran would be unable to continue with uranium enrichment and other steps.
"I think you should not only keep up the pressure; I think you should increase the pressure, because it's finally working," Netanyahu said, labeling Iran's economy as close to paralysis. "If you give it up now, when you have that pressure, and Iran doesn't even take apart, dismantle one centrifuge, what leverage will you have when you've eased the pressure?"
At the same time, Netanyahu repeated his insistence that Israel "always reserves the right to defend itself against any threat," which is diplomat-speak for a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities to stop the development of a weapon.
Iran: Some Israeli officials 'are like animals'
The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, didn't mince words when he fired back at Israel.
"Israeli officials cannot be even called humans. They are like animals, some of them," he said Wednesday.
The ayatollah also said Iran's "heroic flexibility" is not a violation of Iran's values. He coined that term a few months ago to explain that Iran's leadership can be flexible while remaining "heroic" in the face of Western powers it still doesn't trust.
In remarks Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said his country is looking for an agreement that will benefit both sides.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran is looking for stability and tranquility in the entire region, and success in our negotiations with the Group 5+1 will benefit all the regional countries and the world," he said, according to the semiofficial FARS news agency.
Tuesday's twin suicide bombing near the Iranian Embassy in Lebanon's capital will not sway the talks, Rouhani said.
"Those who think they can achieve their goals through terror, intimidation and violence have always been in mistake, and they are erring again this time," he said.
Rifts within the U.S.
Some U.S. lawmakers aren't sold on the new plan. On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of six senators urged the administration to reject the proposed deal with Iran and accept only an agreement that better dismantles Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons.
"I think all of us are concerned," said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee. "We know who we are dealing with, and we've watched this same type of activity occur in North Korea, where you began to alleviate sanctions, and I think what the concern is that whatever you do in the interim basis becomes the new norm."
But U.S. President Barack Obama said the current sanctions put in place during his administration had forced Iran to the negotiating table because of economic contraction and frozen oil revenue.
He said the proposed deal would "open up the spigot a little bit" on some of the frozen revenue while leaving in place the bulk of the most effective sanctions involving Iranian oil exports and banking. But Obama also stressed that all options, including military strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, remained on the table as far as the United States was concerned.
According to a senior U.S. administration official, the talks are "getting close" to an interim deal with Iran that would prevent its nuclear program "from advancing, and roll it back" in key areas. The last round of negotiations broke up without a deal earlier this month, with each side blaming the other's reluctance.
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