matrix
3rd February 2010, 09:28 PM
Iran President Says Nuclear Deal Acceptable
As the Obama administration continues to struggle with a failing Iran policy, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Tuesday his government was ready to negotiate over a nuclear fuel swap agreement overseen by the United Nations.
http://uc-njavan.ir/images/4f9aavbm1j73v6eha4.jpg (http://uc-njavan.ir/)
In an interview broadcast live on state television, President Ahmadinejad said Iran would have "no problem" sending out its stock of low enriched uranium (LEU) to be further refined into nuclear fuel for a research reactor in Tehran.
Under the proposal, initially put forward by the Americans after Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in June 2009 that the Tehran reactor was running out of fuel, the UN nuclear body asked the country to ship out some 1,200 kilos of its enriched uranium.
The deal would ease Western fears that Iran — despite it being a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as well as its extensive cooperation with the IAEA — would one day opt to use its stockpile to produce weapons grade material.
Agreement over the deal, however, has been delayed since October.
After accepting the principals of the proposed deal, Iran asked the other parties — Russia and France which have backed the American initiative — to guarantee that the fuel enriched to twenty percent purity would be delivered in a timely manner — citing previous failures by the powers in adhering to their obligations; namely Washington's decision not to supply Tehran with the fuel following the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and Moscow's years of delays in finishing Iran's first nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr.
The request was turned down as the White House accused the Iranian government of exercising a new method to stall negotiations over its nuclear program as well as the deal.
Iran, in response, proposed a two-stage swap as a compromise. The new plan, which was unlikely to be sorted out, as the sides could not agree on its technical details, was criticized by Washington as "inadequate."
In his Tuesday interview, President Ahmadinejad said the powers' refusal to consent to the two-stage proposal — under which Iran wanted the UN nuclear watchdog in each step to hold a balk of its LEU on Kish Island or a neutral country until the refined fuel is delivered — was reasonable. He said the cost of such operation would not have been in favor of Russia and France, and that Iran understood their position.
The president then, in a surprise move, opened the door for the continuation of talks over the original proposal by saying that Iran can go on with the exchange.
"There is really no problem. [The United States, Britain and Israel] made a fuss for nothing. There is no problem. We sign a contract. We give the world powers 3.5 percent enriched uranium and it will take four or five months for them to give us the 20 percent," he said.
He, however, reiterated that Iran, under the NPT, is entitled to enrich uranium for civilian purposes and if the sides cannot agree on a deal, the country would be left with no choice but to make the fuel itself.
He also expounded on his logic for the decision — although, experts said, before a deal can be signed by Iran, the Supreme National Security Council, which is overseen directly by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, would have to approve it.
President Ahmadinejad said by agreeing to ship out the LEU, which amounts to nearly 70 percent of the total stockpile, Iran demonstrates its willingness to engage in nuclear cooperation with the international community.
"If they don't [hold their end of bargain], well, we are already producing enriched uranium," and will implement plans to supply the research reactor domestically, he said.
Hassan Beheshtipour, a senior Iran expert, described the announcement as a smart move by President Ahmadinejad.
"By taking a leap of faith and agreeing with the original draft, President Ahmadinejad is giving Iran the upper hand," he said. "If the West fails to deliver the fuel, Iran has proven that the powers cannot be trusted after carrying out its obligations to the international community."
"And if they do, then Iran has acquired the fuel it needs while ushering a new era in nuclear cooperation with the powers."
President Ahmadinejad's announcement was met with optimism in Russia as well as Britain, but the United States was skeptical.
"The deal is still on the table," said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, who insisted Washington would not renegotiate the deal. "We don't exactly know what Ahmadinejad said, but if he's prepared to say yes, that's good news. He should contact the IAEA."
In recent weeks, the Obama administration has stepped up a critical campaign to punish Tehran over delays in accepting the deal, after Iran brushed aside a 2009 year-end deadline set by the White House.
Domestically, Congress has given a blank check to President Obama by backing new unilateral sanctions, which enable him to target any US firm that exports gasoline to Iran — the world's fifth oil exporter — or helps its oil refining capacity.
Internationally, the White House has focused on rallying support for a fresh round of UN Security Council sanctions resolutions, only to be met with strong Chinese and Russian objections.
China, which enjoys close diplomatic and economic ties with Iran and has a growing stake in the country's energy sector, has bluntly repeated that punishment would be counter-productive and the only way to exercise diplomacy is through negotiation.
In recent days, Beijing has also involved in a heated rhetoric after Washington sparked a diplomatic row with the Communist regime by announcing plans to proceed with a proposed arms deal, worth no less than 6.4 billion dollars, with Taiwan &0151; which neither the US nor China recognize as an independent state.
China says it will not stay quiet over the deal — which includes 60 Black Hawk helicopters, a pair of Osprey mine-hunting ships, 114 advanced Patriot air defense missiles, advanced Harpoon missiles and loads of advanced communications technology systems — and has already listed an unusually broad series of retaliatory measures. Beijing even postponed a very important high-ranking meeting between Chinese and American military officials.
As tensions simmer between China and the US, President Obama is faced with a new dilemma over Iran, as its promise to engage the country diplomatically and bridge more than three decades of animosity has been compromised by his stance on a series of events and situations — including the Iranian presidential election and the peace process in the Middle East — which Iran says should change.
Furthermore, the young Democrat, during his presidential campaign, made a promise to curtail Iran's nuclear activities by simultaneously offering talks and threatening sanctions, both of which have so far failed as Tehran says the precondition to any negotiation is mutual respect and interest.
Now, President Obama facing the unpleasant reality that the central issue on his foreign policy agenda — which is being adorned by his party's loss of Ted Kenney's seat in the Senate, the collapsing prospects of the health care reform, and the two gloomy battles in the fields of economy and military adventurism — could be very well headed for disaster.
This could be the very reason behind his attempt at gunboat diplomacy by deploying new defenses against a possible Iranian missile attack in the Persian Gulf.
However, the reality seems to be shaping that President Obama, the one who is supposed to bring about change, is bound for no greater success with Tehran than his successor, President George W. Bush
As the Obama administration continues to struggle with a failing Iran policy, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Tuesday his government was ready to negotiate over a nuclear fuel swap agreement overseen by the United Nations.
http://uc-njavan.ir/images/4f9aavbm1j73v6eha4.jpg (http://uc-njavan.ir/)
In an interview broadcast live on state television, President Ahmadinejad said Iran would have "no problem" sending out its stock of low enriched uranium (LEU) to be further refined into nuclear fuel for a research reactor in Tehran.
Under the proposal, initially put forward by the Americans after Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in June 2009 that the Tehran reactor was running out of fuel, the UN nuclear body asked the country to ship out some 1,200 kilos of its enriched uranium.
The deal would ease Western fears that Iran — despite it being a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as well as its extensive cooperation with the IAEA — would one day opt to use its stockpile to produce weapons grade material.
Agreement over the deal, however, has been delayed since October.
After accepting the principals of the proposed deal, Iran asked the other parties — Russia and France which have backed the American initiative — to guarantee that the fuel enriched to twenty percent purity would be delivered in a timely manner — citing previous failures by the powers in adhering to their obligations; namely Washington's decision not to supply Tehran with the fuel following the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and Moscow's years of delays in finishing Iran's first nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr.
The request was turned down as the White House accused the Iranian government of exercising a new method to stall negotiations over its nuclear program as well as the deal.
Iran, in response, proposed a two-stage swap as a compromise. The new plan, which was unlikely to be sorted out, as the sides could not agree on its technical details, was criticized by Washington as "inadequate."
In his Tuesday interview, President Ahmadinejad said the powers' refusal to consent to the two-stage proposal — under which Iran wanted the UN nuclear watchdog in each step to hold a balk of its LEU on Kish Island or a neutral country until the refined fuel is delivered — was reasonable. He said the cost of such operation would not have been in favor of Russia and France, and that Iran understood their position.
The president then, in a surprise move, opened the door for the continuation of talks over the original proposal by saying that Iran can go on with the exchange.
"There is really no problem. [The United States, Britain and Israel] made a fuss for nothing. There is no problem. We sign a contract. We give the world powers 3.5 percent enriched uranium and it will take four or five months for them to give us the 20 percent," he said.
He, however, reiterated that Iran, under the NPT, is entitled to enrich uranium for civilian purposes and if the sides cannot agree on a deal, the country would be left with no choice but to make the fuel itself.
He also expounded on his logic for the decision — although, experts said, before a deal can be signed by Iran, the Supreme National Security Council, which is overseen directly by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, would have to approve it.
President Ahmadinejad said by agreeing to ship out the LEU, which amounts to nearly 70 percent of the total stockpile, Iran demonstrates its willingness to engage in nuclear cooperation with the international community.
"If they don't [hold their end of bargain], well, we are already producing enriched uranium," and will implement plans to supply the research reactor domestically, he said.
Hassan Beheshtipour, a senior Iran expert, described the announcement as a smart move by President Ahmadinejad.
"By taking a leap of faith and agreeing with the original draft, President Ahmadinejad is giving Iran the upper hand," he said. "If the West fails to deliver the fuel, Iran has proven that the powers cannot be trusted after carrying out its obligations to the international community."
"And if they do, then Iran has acquired the fuel it needs while ushering a new era in nuclear cooperation with the powers."
President Ahmadinejad's announcement was met with optimism in Russia as well as Britain, but the United States was skeptical.
"The deal is still on the table," said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, who insisted Washington would not renegotiate the deal. "We don't exactly know what Ahmadinejad said, but if he's prepared to say yes, that's good news. He should contact the IAEA."
In recent weeks, the Obama administration has stepped up a critical campaign to punish Tehran over delays in accepting the deal, after Iran brushed aside a 2009 year-end deadline set by the White House.
Domestically, Congress has given a blank check to President Obama by backing new unilateral sanctions, which enable him to target any US firm that exports gasoline to Iran — the world's fifth oil exporter — or helps its oil refining capacity.
Internationally, the White House has focused on rallying support for a fresh round of UN Security Council sanctions resolutions, only to be met with strong Chinese and Russian objections.
China, which enjoys close diplomatic and economic ties with Iran and has a growing stake in the country's energy sector, has bluntly repeated that punishment would be counter-productive and the only way to exercise diplomacy is through negotiation.
In recent days, Beijing has also involved in a heated rhetoric after Washington sparked a diplomatic row with the Communist regime by announcing plans to proceed with a proposed arms deal, worth no less than 6.4 billion dollars, with Taiwan &0151; which neither the US nor China recognize as an independent state.
China says it will not stay quiet over the deal — which includes 60 Black Hawk helicopters, a pair of Osprey mine-hunting ships, 114 advanced Patriot air defense missiles, advanced Harpoon missiles and loads of advanced communications technology systems — and has already listed an unusually broad series of retaliatory measures. Beijing even postponed a very important high-ranking meeting between Chinese and American military officials.
As tensions simmer between China and the US, President Obama is faced with a new dilemma over Iran, as its promise to engage the country diplomatically and bridge more than three decades of animosity has been compromised by his stance on a series of events and situations — including the Iranian presidential election and the peace process in the Middle East — which Iran says should change.
Furthermore, the young Democrat, during his presidential campaign, made a promise to curtail Iran's nuclear activities by simultaneously offering talks and threatening sanctions, both of which have so far failed as Tehran says the precondition to any negotiation is mutual respect and interest.
Now, President Obama facing the unpleasant reality that the central issue on his foreign policy agenda — which is being adorned by his party's loss of Ted Kenney's seat in the Senate, the collapsing prospects of the health care reform, and the two gloomy battles in the fields of economy and military adventurism — could be very well headed for disaster.
This could be the very reason behind his attempt at gunboat diplomacy by deploying new defenses against a possible Iranian missile attack in the Persian Gulf.
However, the reality seems to be shaping that President Obama, the one who is supposed to bring about change, is bound for no greater success with Tehran than his successor, President George W. Bush