Iran Stalls at Kazakhstan Nuke Talks

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright April 6, 2013
All Rights Reserved.                                         

       Meeting in the former Soviet city of Almaty, Kazakhstan, five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany met on Iran’s terms to try hammering out concessions on its nuclear program.  Viewed by the U.S., U.K, France, Russia, China and Germany as seeking nuclear weapons, the clock continues to tick on a possible military response to Iran’s atomic program.  Despite denials from Tehran, Western officials firmly believe that Iran seeks to make weapons grade uranium, something President Barack Obama has said is a U.S. red-line.  While preferring diplomacy, Iran doesn’t have much time left to make the good-faith concessions needed to avoid military action.  Threatened with air strikes by Israel, Iran has promised unthinkable retaliation if anyone attacks its highly fortified, underground nuclear enrichment facilities.

             Some Western nuclear experts already believe it’s too late to stop Iran’s pursuit of weapons-grade uranium.  Since Obama took office Jan. 30, 2008, Iran has declared itself with great media fanfare as a “nuclear state.”  “I want to announce with a loud voice here that the first package of 20 percent fuel was produced and provided to scientists,” said 56-year-old Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Feb. 11, 2010.  Thumbing his nose at the U.N. Security Council, Ahmadinejad got even more emphatic about Iran’s nuclear capability.  “We have the capability to enrich uranium more than 20 percent or 80 percent but we don’t need it,” said the soon-to-be termed out president.   Three years later, Ahmandinejad reluctantly participates in Kazakhstan.  Iran’s Supreme religious Leader Ali Khamenei believes Iran’s within its rights under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to enrich uranium for “peaceful” purposes.

             Speaking anonymously, a Western diplomat familiar with the talks in Almaty, said Iran wants concessions before it agrees to reduce or stop its uranium enrichment program.  Western officials hoped Iran would agree to suspend its enrichment program in exchange for ending punishing economic sanctions.   “The talks have been substantive, but we don’t yet have any progress to report,” said State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland.  While the talks resume tomorrow, the only thing “substantiv\e” the U.S. hopes to get from Tehran is agreeing to future talks.  “What we are looking for is a clear and concrete response to the proposal that we put forward in February,” referring to the demand Iran halt its enrichment program.  With Ahmadinejad boasting of the over 10,000 centrifuges spinning uranium, expecting concessions from Tehran is like pulling a bull’s wisdom teeth.

             Iran’s proudest moment as a nation in recent years isn’t about extending more freedoms to its beleaguered people.  It’s boasting about its nuclear accomplishments won in the face of Western resistance.  “Now even elementary school kids throughout the world understood that the United States is following an international policy of bullying,” Ahmadinejad told the U.N. General Assembly Sept. 26, 2012.  While reluctantly going through the motions, Iran resents attempts by the U.N. Security Council to restrain any of its nuclear ambitions.  Iran’s chief negotiator in Kazakhstan Ali Bagheri mirrored Tehran’s resistance to play ball, insisting it “was being referred to as confidence-building measure are actions that both sides . . need to take,” alluding to ending the Security Council sanctions.  With so many false starts, the Security Council wants Iran to take the discussions seriously.

            Attempts to get Iran to curtail enriching uranium to 20% won’t happen easily.  Denying that they have any plans for a nuclear bomb, Iran thinks it doesn’t have to answer to anyone, certainly not the U.S. or Israel.  With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning Iran to stop generating fissile material, the U.S. is running out of time to stop Iran’s uranium enrichment program.  Netanyahu tends to overstate Iran’s proximity to a nuclear device.  “The core issue here is the international community concern of the very strong indications that Iran is developing technology that could be used for military purposes,” said Michael Mann, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.  Security Council officials feel strongly that the ball is Iran’s court when it comes to making concessions    Iran’s insistence on bilateral concessions defeats the talk’s purpose

Dragging Iran into unilateral disarmament talks anticipates failure for the Kasaakhstan talks, prompting Iranian negotiators to take a hard line. ”There are suspicions of an enrichment program that could have military uses,” said Mann.  “The confidence building has to come from Iran because it is Iran that is developing its nuclear program,” raising the real impasse.  Iran believes it has every right to continue the nuclear fuel cycle under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.  Despite the West’s belief of Iran’s nuclear intentions, Tehran has emphatically denied seeking to build atomic weapons.  “When we said we do not manufacture the bomb, we mean it. And we do not believe in manufacturing a bomb,” Ahmadinejad said last year.  “If we wanted to manufacture a bomb, we would announce it,” continuing the defiance that leaves Kazakhstan talks nowhere.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.