Boston Globe Editorial - Iran's nuclear finesse
Boston Globe Editorial - Iran's nuclear finesse
Copyright by The Boston Globe
Published: August 23, 2006
In conformity with its past performances, Iran came up with a subtle and dilatory response on Tuesday to the international community's stark demand that it suspend nuclear enrichment and negotiate a mutually satisfactory deal on its nuclear program. The challenge now for the Bush administration, as for other governments that wish to prevent the Iranian regime from acquiring nuclear weapons, is to avoid being outdone by Tehran either in resoluteness or subtlety.
Iran refused to suspend enrichment of uranium as a precondition for negotiations on an incentives package offered by the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany. In so doing, Iran disregarded its legal obligations under a Security Council resolution demanding that "Iran shall suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, to be verified" by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
However, Iran's rulers are also proposing negotiations that could lead to compromises that would satisfy both sides. Left tantalizingly uncertain is the possibility that, as its part of any such negotiated bargain, Iran might suspend its enrichment of uranium long enough for the IAEA to be satisfied that the Iranians are not pursuing nuclear weapons in the guise of a program to develop nuclear energy for purely peaceful purposes.
The shrewdness of Iran's response resides in this ambiguity about its willingness to halt enrichment at some later date - not as a precondition to negotiations but only as an outcome of a successful bargaining process.
Given the slippery behavior of Iranian officials in their past dealings on the nuclear issue, the United States and its European allies are entitled to suspect Iran of stalling for time. The idea would be for Iran to go on solving the technical problems of running cascades of centrifuges needed to produce highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons, all the while stringing the Europeans along with an ever-receding mirage of a negotiated agreement that would assure the world that Iran's nuclear program is meant only to produce nuclear power for domestic civil uses.
The right way to match Iran subtlety for subtlety is to demand that it commit unambiguously to suspending its enrichment of uranium at the end of an agreed-upon period of negotiations - not more than a few months. If Iran refuses to make such a commitment, there is no point to accepting its proposal for a bargaining process. If at the end of that period Iran still refuses to suspend enrichment, China and Russia ought to join with the other permanent members of the Security Council in imposing meaningful sanctions on Iran.
- The Boston Globe
Copyright by The Boston Globe
Published: August 23, 2006
In conformity with its past performances, Iran came up with a subtle and dilatory response on Tuesday to the international community's stark demand that it suspend nuclear enrichment and negotiate a mutually satisfactory deal on its nuclear program. The challenge now for the Bush administration, as for other governments that wish to prevent the Iranian regime from acquiring nuclear weapons, is to avoid being outdone by Tehran either in resoluteness or subtlety.
Iran refused to suspend enrichment of uranium as a precondition for negotiations on an incentives package offered by the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany. In so doing, Iran disregarded its legal obligations under a Security Council resolution demanding that "Iran shall suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, to be verified" by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
However, Iran's rulers are also proposing negotiations that could lead to compromises that would satisfy both sides. Left tantalizingly uncertain is the possibility that, as its part of any such negotiated bargain, Iran might suspend its enrichment of uranium long enough for the IAEA to be satisfied that the Iranians are not pursuing nuclear weapons in the guise of a program to develop nuclear energy for purely peaceful purposes.
The shrewdness of Iran's response resides in this ambiguity about its willingness to halt enrichment at some later date - not as a precondition to negotiations but only as an outcome of a successful bargaining process.
Given the slippery behavior of Iranian officials in their past dealings on the nuclear issue, the United States and its European allies are entitled to suspect Iran of stalling for time. The idea would be for Iran to go on solving the technical problems of running cascades of centrifuges needed to produce highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons, all the while stringing the Europeans along with an ever-receding mirage of a negotiated agreement that would assure the world that Iran's nuclear program is meant only to produce nuclear power for domestic civil uses.
The right way to match Iran subtlety for subtlety is to demand that it commit unambiguously to suspending its enrichment of uranium at the end of an agreed-upon period of negotiations - not more than a few months. If Iran refuses to make such a commitment, there is no point to accepting its proposal for a bargaining process. If at the end of that period Iran still refuses to suspend enrichment, China and Russia ought to join with the other permanent members of the Security Council in imposing meaningful sanctions on Iran.
- The Boston Globe
posted by Carlos T Mock at 6:55 AM
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