Monday
Jan112010
Iran Exclusive: The Latest Nuclear Riddle --- Renewed Talks with "West"?
Monday, January 11, 2010 at 14:34 
It all started with a story this morning in Israel's Haaretz: "Iran has suspended its uranium enrichment program for two months, Iranian media sources reported on Monday, saying the move was meant as a gesture of good will toward Western powers."The only problem with the report is that "the Iranian media sources" were not cited, and analysts, including EA contacts, could not recall seeing any news of a suspension.
Finally, another Israeli website clarified the source:
....statements made by Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast to quasi-official news agency ILNA [Iranian Labor News Agency] last week. The report was first published in Tehran Times, which is considered the mouthpiece of the Iranian regime.
"A number of neutral countries asked Iran not to enrich uranium for two months in order to give the West time to respond to Iran's proposals. We agreed to this request in order to show our good will to the international community," said Mehmanparast.
According to him, of the two months granted to the West, one month has already passed: "If the other side responds to Iran's requests (to carry out the agreement according to its requests) in the remaining time, we will start working. Otherwise, we will make the necessary decision."
Officials in the West told Ynet that they "are unaware if this kind of suspension was indeed carried out."
That, however, is not the entire story. According to Laura Rozen of Politico, US officials are very much aware of an Iranian attempt to find an agreement: "A U.S. nonproliferation hand confirmed Sunday that Iran had offered a formal response [on third-party enrichment of Iran's uranium] in late December or early January."
The issue is that Iran's preference for an uranium "swap" inside the country is unacceptable to Washington:
While the Iranian fuel-swap response was said to have been conveyed by the highest levels of the Iranian government, U.S. officials contacted Sunday gave no public indication that they have any interest in the counter-offer.
“The Iranians have been saying different things for weeks, but what matters is whether they will accept the IAEA's proposed TRR deal, which they agreed to in principle on October 1 but then walked away from,” an administration official said. “They know what they need to do to satisfy the international communities concerns and to date they have not done so.”
The Tehran Research Reactor proposal, or TRR, calls on Iran to immediately send 1,200 kg of its LEU to Russia, and France would in return supply Iran with nuclear fuel cells for medical use.
Put it all together, and the Ahmadinejad Government has far from closed the doors on discussion. Indeed, needing "legitimacy" in the face of internal troubles, it is Tehran now pressing for a deal.
The Obama Administration, however, does not appear to need to make any concessions to Iran. With the US Congress playing "bad cop" and proposing sweeping sanctions, the White House can be "good cop" and say "the third-party enrichment deal is the best you will get".
Reader Comments (2)
"The Tehran Research Reactor proposal, or TRR, calls on Iran to immediately send 1,200 kg of its LEU to Russia, and France would in return supply Iran with nuclear fuel cells for medical use."
The Russians killed a rogue KGB agent and dissident with a radioactive isotope in the UK. The radioactivity was traced to a UK bar and to a plane back to Russia. We are not pleased with such sloppy work. We want untraceable radioactive isotopes for the medical use of killing dissidents just as the KGB does. The Bulgarian with the Ricin in the umbrella gun was a more elegant example of Russian expertise. If Russia could promise to be more careful, we could come to an agreement. Why did the Russians using the Bulgarians fail to kill the Pope? But of course all of this has plausible deniability
"We are not pleased with such sloppy work. We want untraceable radioactive isotopes for the medical use of killing dissidents just as the KGB does."
I'm at work right now trying very hard to not laugh out loud at my computer screen!