May 30, 2007
Iran: Diplomatic Deadlock
The international dispute over Iran's nuclear program appears to have hit another impasse, as AP reports that Iran's nuclear negotiator has dismissed any suspension of the country's uranium enrichment ahead of a meeting with European Union envoy Javier Solana.
According to Iranian state television, nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said earlier today that "suspension is not the right solution for solving Iran's nuclear issue," and "past experiences have shown that suspension is not acceptable, at all." Larijani's comments reportedly came as he was about to leave for a meeting with Solana in Spain to discuss whether there is any room for negotiation on the enrichment program.
The standoff over Iran's nuclear ambitions is high on the agenda for today's meeting of Group of Eight foreign ministers in Germany. In anticipation of the meeting, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday urged the United Nations not to back down from its demand that Iran halt its enrichment program.
The G-8 ministers released a statement today following Larijani's comments: "If Iran continues to ignore demands of the Security Council we will support further appropriate measures as agreed in Resolution 1747."
The intensified rhetoric comes at a critical time for diplomatic efforts with Iran. On the nuclear issue, the Bush administration toughened its stance last week following a U.N. report detailing the progress Iran had made in enriching uranium. A day after the administration said it would seek tighter sanctions against Iran, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei said he agreed with a CIA report showing Iran was three to eight years from having the capability of developing nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, there have been recent signs of both progress and setbacks in U.S.-Iranian relations on two other fronts. Diplomats from the two countries met face-to-face for the first time in nearly 30 years earlier this week to discuss ways to improve the security situation in Iraq. By most accounts, the meeting did not yield any major breakthroughs, but the envoys on both sides emerged upbeat and hinted that more talks could be forthcoming.
But at the same time, officials are locked in a war of words over Tehran's detainment of three Iranian-Americans. The government has officially charged the three -- academic Haleh Esfandiari, social scientist Kian Tajbakhsh and journalist Parnaz Azima -- with espionage, a claim the White House today called "preposterous." Rice yesterday called Iran's actions "a perversion of the rule of law," and U.S. officials are demanding their release.
