Nuclear Proliferation: With the clock ticking down, Iran says it's ready for "serious negotiations" over its burgeoning nuclear program. But that's not enough. Only a halt to its enrichment of uranium will do.
To some, the hand delivery of Iran's response to a package of "incentives" offered by the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany seems promising. Iran, after all, promised to keep talking. It also pledged a "new formula" to end the dispute, which has dragged on for years.
Sorry, but we think Iran's response is wholly unsatisfactory. And it should be unsatisfactory for Europe too. We've had enough talk. This has been going on at least since August 2002, when an opposition group first reported Iran had secretly built a nuclear facility and a heavy-water plant.
The six-nation, U.S.-led group has given Iran until Aug. 31 to halt its enrichment program, in exchange for trade concessions and access to commercial nuclear technology. But deadlines fly by. Remember March 29? That's when the U.N. Security Council gave Iran 30 days to halt its uranium enrichment. Thirty days came and went. Nothing happened. That's the pattern.
Experts agree Iran's program is clearly intended to produce a nuclear weapon. The U.S. simply wanted a yes or no answer to its question: Would Iran halt its enrichment program?
At first glance, Iran's answer seems ambiguous, but it's not. The answer is "no." Sure, it promised more talks. But it's playing the oldest game in the book -- divide and conquer.
It knows U.S. allies in Europe don't have the stomach for a real fight. They might not even support mild sanctions. Nor can the U.S. expect help from Security Council members China and Russia -- both with billions in contracts with Iran.
Iran's betting it can promise to talk, using Europe's anti-Americanism to buy time to keep enriching uranium. Iran will point to its official comments that its program is for "peaceful purposes," as allowed under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Unfortunately, this happens to be a very big lie.
Iran has signaled its intent to build a nuclear weapon, and soon. The International Institute for Strategic Studies last year estimated it might be "several years" before Iran got a bomb. But Western intelligence sources fear it could be much shorter -- giving Iran nuclear-tipped missiles with which to threaten Europe, its hated enemy Israel and its Sunni Muslim neighbors.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has indelicately promised to wipe Israel "off the map." He's also promised to "share" technology with other Muslim nations. These aren't idle threats.
Meanwhile, Iran says one thing to the U.N., something else to its own public. On Tuesday, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported Iran won't suspend its "nuclear activities" -- despite its earlier promise to talk. On Monday, Iran kicked U.N. inspectors out of an underground nuclear site. Could the signals be any clearer?
The U.S. envoy to the U.N., John Bolton, vows to push ahead with sanctions against Iran. Good luck. Israel has been weakened by its fight with Hezbollah, so it can't help militarily. And a reluctant Europe really doesn't want to push the issue.
Once again, that leaves the U.S. to do the world's dirty work. If Iran refuses to stop building a nuclear bomb, we'll have to exercise the military option. Not a pretty thought, but a nuclear Iran leaves us no choice.
