For the first time in quite some time, a US proposal on an Iranian nuclear settlement has been released to the public. As one might imagine, it’s pretty far-fetched.
Determined to placate Israel by eliminating Iran’s civilian enrichment program, but with Iran rejecting getting rid of the centrifuges which enrich uranium to be used as fuel in their Bushehr Power Plant, the US proposes a “compromise” where Iran is forced to give up the pipes that the uranium travels into the centrifuges through, while keeping the centrifuges themselves.
Without the pipes, Iran can’t use the centrifuges at all, so the US could brag about ending Iran’s civilian enrichment program. At the same time, it would allow Iran to claim that, technically, they were allowed to keep their centrifuges, they’d just never be able to use them.
Iran hasn’t publicly responded to the plan, but its extremely unlikely to be acceptable, as the whole point of keeping the program was to be able to produce fuel for the power plant in the event the West tries to prevent them from buying it. Having the physical machines but being forever banned by technicality from using them is clearly not going to accomplish anything.
Israel has over 200 nukes and would love to have more, whereas, President Ahmadinejad when in office showed how the intent of Iran is quite the reverse, his statement being, “We should be so stupid as to want one or two nuclear weapons?”