Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, says he remains confident that a deal can be reached in the next round of nuclear talks with the P5+1, scheduled to begin later this week in Geneva.
Most of the broad issues were already settled in the last talks, and one of the last sticking points was a French objection to including a clause in the text’s preamble recognizing Iran’s right to enrich uranium.
Zarif sees a pretty easy work-around for that, saying the right to civilian enrichment is “self-evident” as part of the right to civilian nuclear technology in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and that there is no real need to mention it one way or the other in the deal’s text.
Iran has long insisted that it will not abandon civilian enrichment, needing a reliable supply of fuel for its Bushehr power plant and the Tehran Research Reactor. The deal they are negotiating will reportedly limit the scope of that enrichment, however, with an eye toward keeping their stockpile from getting too big.
US officials have at time conceded the right to civilian enrichment, while at other times insisting no right exists, or that Iran simply forfeited the right because Israel doesn’t like them. In years past it was believed Iran was willing to eschew the enrichment so long as a reliable overseas supply was guaranteed, but in absence of such guarantees, and after years of growing doubts about the reliability of nations like the US and France upholding their end of the pact, that likely is no longer an option.
An Iranian ally over the Saudi-Israelia-GCC Complex is long overdue. Looks better than cozying up to unpopular Gulf family sheikhdoms, autocratic or military dictatorships. Iran is the regional power with a hungry young population. No amount of neocon-inspired bullsh!t doled out by Fabius, Hollande and his new bestest pal Netanyahu can change that fact.
The reason that Iran demands its right to civilian enrichment is because the French reneged on a deal where Iran supplied yellow cake and cash to make rods for its medical reactor and France decided NOT to provide the rods but also to keep both the cash and the Yellowcake. Is there any wonder Iran demands to keep what its NPT treaty signing allows it to have! It cannot trust the other countries to remain at their contractual word!
Have no fear…the Israeli-led French will find some other nitpic to attempt to kill the deal. The US needs to go to Tehran and make their own agreement, unilaterally. The EU has constantly indicated they are their own agent. If they want a deal with Iran, they can arrange it themselves. My guess is that the EU will not be able to come to an agreement within themselves. The US needs to realize the extent of the Iranian market that is available to us if we were to stand down on the Israeli-driven rhetoric. An agreement and improving relations would change the dynamics in the ME, for the better, IMO.
Have no fear…the Israeli-led French will find some other nitpic to attempt to kill the deal. The US needs to go to Tehran and make their own agreement, unilaterally. The EU has constantly indicated they are their own agent. If they want a deal with Iran, they can arrange it themselves. My guess is that the EU will not be able to come to an agreement within themselves. The US needs to realize the extent of the Iranian market that is available to us if we were to stand down on the Israeli-driven rhetoric. An agreement and improving relations would change the dynamics in the ME, for the better, IMO.
You are correct. The US did drag Europe and the rest of the world to this end against Iran and they can unilaterally elect to deal with Tehran. I would love to see the look on the french coward's face if the US elected to do this. The rest of the Europeans kept their escape routes wide open, but Hollande just closed it by pandering to this warmongering, child killing coward in the chitty little state.
It may be wishful thinking but nothing is impossible in the realm of politics.
And it'd arrest the US slide toward insignificance in the ME. Maybe, for the first time Washington would have the chance to make a positive difference in that part of the world.
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