Clinton Pushes Iran to Accept New Nuclear ‘Deal’

Insists Proposal an 'Offer of Friendship'

Secretary of state Hillary Clinton today demanded that Iran accept the new US proposal for a third party enrichement deal, an offer which is said to be a considerably worse version of the deal the US demanded Iran accept last year. Clinton termed it an “offer of friendship.”

Such an offer must be difficult to take at face value, however, as Iran actually did accept last year’s proposal after considerable debate, only to have the US renege on the offer and condemn Iran’s acceptance as proof of some sort of trickery.

The 2009 version of the US deal proposed an exchange of considerably more low enriched uranium for fuel rods than Iran actually needed for its aging, US-built medical reactor, but Iran eventually accepted the deal after some preliminary efforts to make their own fuel rods.

The 2010 version, however, is said to demand far more uranium, and would offer such a riduclous number of fuel rods that it would be impossible for Iran to ever use them all.

The two sides are expected to focus on this offer in the upcoming Geneva meeting, though Iran has already formally rejected the offer and the P5+1 insists that no other offers will be considered.

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.