West Seeks Even More Demands for Next Iran Talks

US Reiterates No Plans for Bilateral Talks

The White House has once again denied reports that they have agreed to negotiate with Iran regarding that nation’s civilian nuclear program, but the continued denials come as Western diplomats say there will almost certainly be a new round of talks after the US election.

“We have been open to considering negotiations that are bilateral, but we have none scheduled,” insisted press secretary Jay Carney. Iranian officials have likewise denied that any deal on bilateral talks is in place.

But Western officials seem so certain that some sort of post-election talks are going to take place that they are already discussing amongst themselves exactly what to demand, with officials seemingly looking at demanding even more than in previous times.

That of course puts the next round of talks on course to fail just like the last few. Western officials don’t seem to be taking any chances that Iran will accept a deal after the embarrassment when Iran accepted a previous US offer for third party uranium enrichment, forcing the US to withdraw its already public offer from the table and express outrage that it had been accepted. As it has been for the last 30 years, officials seem determined to keep Iran nominally “on the brink of war” while continuing to push negotiations designed to fail and give officials a chance to gain political points from railing against the “threat.”

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.