The IAEA has begun its quarterly Board of Governors meeting in Vienna on Monday, and as always the focus is squarely on Iran. Coming in a pause in the Iran nuclear talks, this meeting seems poised to rehash anti-Iran rhetoric. The first day was described as ‘tense.’
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi complains that Iran isn’t providing “credible” answers on undeclared nuclear sites and isn’t complying with monitoring expectations.
The reality is that monitoring agreements expired long ago, and there should be no expectations until a new agreement is reached. Likewise, Iran provided what it says are the documents on the undeclared sites. Iran has seen this as an interminable line of questioning about trivial amounts of uranium, and dismissing their latest engagement only adds to the sense that Iran can do nothing to end those questions.
Perhaps the most galling, however, was Grossi trying to piggyback on the breakout warnings of Iran, claiming the nation is only weeks away from a “significant quantity of enriched uranium.” This mirrors Israel repeatedly claiming Iran is weeks away from a bomb, and while Grossi both knows better and conceded that what he’s saying “does not mean having a bomb,” it is plain that he’s trying to use the fear-mongering formula.
That’s just plain part of the IAEA chief’s job, as the US and other nations are constantly pressuring him to do something to Iran. It is expected this week’s meeting will end with a censure of Iran, but Grossi is likely trying to prove he is playing ball with a flurry of anti-Iran statements.
The undeclared sites issue will probably remain the biggest unresolved issue, with the US and France both pushing the IAEA on the matter. The sites were “uncovered” by Israeli spying, and Israel has lobbied the US heavily on the Iran issue.
Israel is also pushing the IAEA hard on the matter, and is is interesting that the IAEA works so hard to placate them, given that Israel has very limited relations with the IAEA and is incredibly secretive about their nuclear weapons program.
Regulatory agencies and leaders of such proven to be corrupt tools deserve to be ignored if not shunned. Sad, as IAEA should have an important real role in the world.
Why doesn’t Iran adopt an “exceptionalism” stance like the US and Israel? Clearly good faith does them no good. Plus it’s soo offensive to be hectored by genocidal Zionists.
Sure, but the US and Israel get to violate the norms because who can make them stop? Iran, on the other hand, has to be careful, as it operates in a world with few committed friends, and those weak. There are some fair weather but strong friends like China and Russia, whose frustrations with the US may make them somewhat more supportive than before. But regardless, Iran does not have the same tools as the nations you mention, so it has different realistic options.
Agreed.
The whole notion of “Atoms for Peace” was propaganda concocted by Eisenhower. On December 8, 1953, President Eisenhower delivered a speech to the UN that was described as ‘a splendid piece of political theater’. Eisenhower, Lewis L. Strauss, C.D. Jackson and John Foster Dulles worked on the final draft of the speech on a plane home from the Bermuda conference. Jackson had even kept the plane circling so that the finished document could be handed to the press as soon as they landed . The speech was intended to make the atom ‘friendly’ and highlight its peaceful benefits, though it had a far more sinister intent. The speech was intended to counter the Soviet peace initiative. Washington was fearful that Moscow’s cooperation and its propensity for peace would underscore Washington’s baseless accusations that had painted the Soviet Union as the greatest threat to the world. & the theatrics & propaganda continue. Problem is with Iran for going along with this game for decades.
In 1953,the USSR has occupied all of Eastern Europe. I do not see it as that benign.What propensity for peace did the USSR display-subsequent military crackdowns in Czechoslovakia,Poland, and Hungary?
I suggest you read for yourself.
Cull, Nicholas, “The Cold War and the United States Information Agency (FRUS 1952-1954, Vol. 2, part 2, Memo of discussion at NSC, 30 July 1953, pp. 1184-1185; Memo by Robert Cutler, 10 September 1953; Chronology, Atoms for Peace project, 30 September 1954).
Osgood, Kenneth. “Total Cold War; Eisenhower’s Secret Propaganda Battle at Home and Abroad”, University Press of Kansas, 2006 Pp 153-161
Excellent sources for understanding American propaganda.
American propaganda pales in comparison to USSR crimes. Holodomor-tens of millions starved to death.Million of innocents sent to the gulags.Russian POWs,when repatriated,sent to gulags for fear they might be infected with Western ideas.Deportation of Crimea Tatars and Volga Germans, the Doctors trials-execution of poets Katyn forest massacre of 20,000
Polish potential leaders.. I seee no propensity for peace. Eisenhower,i n his wildest dreams,could never pull stunts like these.
How about slavery, the trail of tears, Philippines, Hiroshima & Nagasaki, … and Tokyo, and Dresden, and N. Korea, and IndoChina, and E. Timor, and Central America, and Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, …
Tokyo and Dresden,Nagasaki and Hiroshima,were brought o by the bestiality of the axis powers. DDE was not responsible for the trail of tears;he wasn’t even born.I do not deny many shameful actions i nUS history, but the point was “the peaceful USSR” statment.
Well. It was the power of American propaganda that won it the Cold War. But I am guessing you are from the very old school that still believes in the ‘evil empire’ and US a ‘shining house on the hill’. The truth is a bitter pill.
The US has many faults, but its very funny how people fled from the USSR and its colonies the west.
yes. that was the success of propaganda. and the ability of America to project itself as a haven. It had a virtual media monopoly. Now that there is open source information available around the world, people are better informed, though a very long way from being fully informed. We tend to believe what reflects out ideology and beliefs – reality is too harsh for many, regardless of their country of origin. How can we admit how very wrong we have been for years without some degree of shame – even self-loathing.
or a very readily available piece online. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/publication/WP57_WebFinal.pdf
“Israel is also pushing the IAEA hard on the matter, and is is interesting that the IAEA works so hard to placate them, given that Israel has very limited relations with the IAEA and is incredibly secretive about their nuclear weapons program.”
Kind of leaves out any credibility issues the IAEA might have had. It’s official, they have NONE.