Clinton: ‘Time Running Out for Iran’

Warns of 'Profound Consequences' if Iran Can't Prove Intentions Are Peaceful

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today warned of ‘profound consequences’ if Iran is unable to convince the United States that their civilian nuclear program “is intended exclusively for peaceful purposes.”

Iran has agreed to enter into talks with the six parties (the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany) which are planned for early next month. The US has said it doesn’t expect anything positive to come of the talks, and has been pressing the other five negotiating nations to support “crippling” sanctions against Iran.

Though Secretary Clinton insisted that Iran isn’t living up to its obligations, the IAEA yesterday reiterated that there was no proof that Iran was doing anything untoward in its civilian program, and Russia has said it firmly opposes any new sanctions.

The IAEA has continued to confirm that Iran isn’t diverting any of its low-enriched uranium to any military purpose, and the US intelligence community says it has confidence Iran doesn’t have an active nuclear weapons program. It remains unclear how Iran can possibly “prove” what the administration doesn’t want to believe, particularly when it is something international inspectors and US spies already know.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.