Iran: Fitful Progress
Is it one step up and two steps back, or two steps up and one step back? Either way, there’s something for both optimists and pessimists in the latest movements on the Iranian front:
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday that Iran was ready to discuss “mutual concerns” over his country’s nuclear program, but he refused to first suspend uranium enrichment.
His comments came a day after world powers backed off a demand that Iran commit to a prolonged moratorium on uranium enrichment, asking only for a suspension during talks on its nuclear program. Ahmadinejad did not say whether he accepted the proposal, part of a package of incentives in exchange for Iran suspending enrichment.
Meanwhile, a report by the U.N. nuclear agency made available to The Associated Press on Thursday said Iran has slowed its nuclear enrichment work over the past month but continues experimenting with the technology that world powers fear might be misused to make nuclear arms.
The confidential report circulated among the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35 member nations also indicated that nuclear inspectors have made little progress on clearing up other worrying aspects of Tehran’s past nuclear activity.
Specifically, the three-page report said Iran still had declined to answer requests to clarify Ahmadinejad’s statements that his country had experimented with advanced centrifuges that speed up enrichment — a process that can produce fuel for electricity-generating reactors or, if sufficiently processed, the fissile core for a warhead.
Our good friend Mike asks in another thread why I’m not optimistic about Iran. Well, I am MORE optimistic that I was a few weeks ago, that’s for sure…but I’m still very wary. We’ll see what the next moves are…
Mark,
Just to clarify, I have no issue with you not being optimistic about Iran, but, likewise, I also have no issue with Atrios not being optimistic about Iraq (because of Zarqawi). That’s all I was getting at…
I don’t know what to make of all this yet. I’ve been patiently waiting for something noteworthy to occur. I don’t think that will happen for another few months.
You’re right though, we’ll see one way or the other soon enough…
“We shall see.” is always prudent rhetorically. Sadly our leaders do not have that luxury. They must make the future happen. On Iran, I think Mark Steyn said it well; this anouncement of “negotiations” will in reality mean negotiations amongst the Western allies as to our collective position, still unclear. Negotiations with the mullahs will never truly take place for a simple reason: their nukes are not up for negotiation. The true rulers of Iran feel this program to be vital existentially for them and they are, of course, correct. A pastiche of internal change which will include healthy doses of true anarchy and external pressures which may or may not include military force will sculpt the changes in Iran. The crisis is here. Skillfully handled we will have the result Carter hoped to effect (though he took no action to bring about) in that nation. I have high confidence in Our Boy, that is W. I know that is a controversial view even among Hard Righties which, I should say, I am not one.