16 December 2009: NPR Morning Edition
ARI SHAPIRO, host: This is MORNING EDITION from NPR. And sitting in for Steve Inskeep, I'm Ari Shapiro.
RENEE MONTAGNE, host: And I'm Renee Montagne. It's not just the West that's worried about Iran's nuclear ambitions. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states are talking seriously about creating a rapid reaction security force. The multinational force would deal with regional threats. And high on that list is Iran. Concerns over their Persian neighbor were on full display at a recent security conference in Bahrain, where the Iranian delegation was peppered with skeptical questions. NPR's Peter Kenyon was there.
PETER KENYON: In the Sunni-led Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Iran has long been viewed as a powerful and potentially destabilizing force. Those concerns have only deepened since Iran began ramping up its capacity to enrich uranium, which Gulf states fear may be used to build nuclear weapons, despite Iran's consistent denials.
The Manama Dialogue hosted by Bahrain for a half dozen years now brings together diplomatic, military and political leaders from several corners of the world to debate the security concerns of the day. And this year, Iran's nuclear program appeared to top the list. Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki arrived with a confident smile and defiant rhetoric.
He ridiculed the claim by Western leaders that Iran had failed to respond to the United Nations' October confidence-building proposal regarding Iran's stockpile of uranium. Mottaki professed astonishment that Iran was accused of rejecting or ignoring the offer, saying President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had responded during his recent trip to Brazil. Mottaki is heard here through an interpreter.
Mr. MANOUCHEHR MOTTAKI (Foreign Minister, Iran): (Through translator) For some time they said that Iran has not responded. What do they mean Iran has not responded? We have given a compromise solution. We have said it and you know it. Isn't that a response? Why are you pretending otherwise?
KENYON: Under questioning at a news conference a short time later, Mottaki dismissed American complaints that Iran's response to the U.N. offer was unacceptable. And again through an interpreter he shrugged off the possibility of the new international sanctions that may result.
Mr. MOTTAKI: (Through translator) Yes, they say a lot of things, the Americans. (Unintelligible) talk very much. Of course they say very wrong thing.
KENYON: Mark Fitzpatrick, a senior nonproliferation specialist at London's International Institute For Strategic Studies, says the original deal was for Iran to give up more than 2,600 pounds of low enriched uranium, an estimated 80 percent of its total supply, so it could be converted in the West into fuel rods to be used to make medical isotopes back in Tehran.
But Fitzpatrick says Iran's counter-offer to do the exchange in much smaller stages defeats the main purpose of the swap - to keep Iran's uranium supply below the threshold for making a nuclear weapon. In his view, the sides could be in for a protracted dispute.
Mr. MARK FITZPATRICK (International Institute for Strategic Studies): I think engagement will certainly remain on the table, but the focus is going to be more and more on the disincentives. I think this is going into a kind of a long cold war with Iran.
KENYON: And in the meantime, Western officials suspect Iran will continue to increase its capacity to enrich uranium and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf will become more and more anxious about their ability to defend themselves. That's another aspect of the Manama Dialogue, the opportunity for military officers, arms sellers and lobbyists to meet with wealthy Gulf prospective buyers.
In his public remarks, General David Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central Command, urged Gulf leaders to beef up their weapons systems and cooperate more on security matters. He said America was feeling more welcome in this part of the world than it had for some time, largely because of worries about Iran. Petraeus said the United Arab Emirates alone in the past year had done $18 billion worth of business with the U.S., half of that coming in military purchases.
General DAVID PETRAEUS (U.S. Central Command): There's a reason that they're buying U.S., and we think it's because the products are quite good. In fact, the fact is that because of those purchases and because of training and assistance and some great investment in human capital in the Emirates, the Emirati air force itself could take out the entire Iranian air force, I believe.
KENYON: Comments such as those reminded delegates that fears over Iran's nuclear program have done more than raise the prospect of a Mideast arms race. The question now seems to be where will it stop.
Peter Kenyon, NPR News
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