By David Albright and Jacqueline Shire
September 11, 2006
The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS)
ISIS recently obtained a copy of Iran's response to the EU package; this is the document that Ali Larijani, Iran's senior nuclear negotiator, delivered on August 22 in Tehran to diplomatic representatives of Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the United States.
Iran is an adroit, skilled practitioner of diplomacy. If the purpose of this response was to muddy the water, buy additional time for its delayed pilot-scale uranium enrichment program at Natanz, while giving China and Russia some ammunition for delaying discussion of sanctions at the Security Council, Iran may have succeeded. The document in some ways recalls a Rorschach test from which any country can find and take what it seeks, if it tries hard enough.However, EU diplomats would be wise to interpret the document in a favorable manner and not reject it out-of-hand, while insisting on a full suspension of Iran's uranium enrichment program, even if for a limited time as a condition for launching formal negotiations. At this time, offers to allow Iran to continue with its uranium enrichment activities during the formal negotiations remain counter-productive. Despite the difficulties, the EU and United States have an obligation to try to find a successful strategy to re-establish negotiations with Iran and re-institute robust IAEA inspections in Iran. The Iranian document, while not particularly helpful, does not preclude achieving both of these goals in the short term. ...
>>> Continued @ ISIS
