U.N. Coming To Conclusion That 18 Months Of “Talks” With Iran Have Produced Shit
LONDON (AP) - Talks over 18 months appear to have failed to persuade Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, European officials said Thursday, ahead of a report expected to confirm Tehran’s nuclear defiance that will add to the likelihood of further U.N. sanctions.
Two officials, both in senior positions, spoke on the eve of a London meeting between EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili in the British capital.
Those talks will be followed by a strategy session Saturday in Paris by top representatives of the five permanent U.N. Security Council nations plus Germany, the six countries at the forefront of efforts to dissuade Iran from developing its enrichment program.
While the Paris meeting will formally wait for a report from Solana on the outcome of his talks with Jalili, the officials told The Associated Press that there were few illusions that Tehran would change its mind. They asked for anonymity in exchange for discussing confidential issues.
Comments Thursday by British Foreign Secretary David Miliband indicated the low expectations the Western powers—the United States, Britain, France and Germany—had from the London talks. He told reporters that “work is already under way and will continue” on the language of a Security Council resolution that would impose a third set of sanctions on Tehran.
“There’s a lot of discussion going on about the content of a resolution,” he said—an allusion to differences among the Western council members and Russia and China, who have watered down the two previous sanctions resolution and appear skeptical about a third. Still, he said, “the marching orders … are set out.”
The council first imposed sanctions on Dec. 23, ordering all countries to stop supplying Iran with materials and technology that could contribute to its nuclear and missile programs, and freeze assets of 10 key Iranian companies and 12 individuals related to the programs.
In March, the council imposed moderately tougher sanctions including banning Iranian arms exports and freezing the assets of 28 people and groups involved in Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.
Both times, Iran responded by expanding enrichment. Tehran insists its nuclear program is peaceful and designed to generate electricity for civilian use. Many fear it masks a plan to develop weapons.
Iranian officials have repeatedly insisted that enrichment was not up for debate throughout much of the EU-Iran contacts that began in June with the six nations offering technological and political incentive if Iran mothballed the program.
Tehran was at pains to reinforce that message as late as Tuesday, with Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham telling reporters that suspension of enrichment is “not on the agenda” of the London talks.
Reflecting Western exasperation, Kim Howells, Britain’s Middle East minister, said Wednesday those who believed the West must offer Iran “endless sweets and chocolates to get them to” meet their international obligations were mistaken and suggested current U.N. sanctions were too weak.
Speaking from separate European capitals, both of the officials said that Iran had offered to bring “new ideas” to the table in London on Friday. But they said that nothing—short of a commitment to freeze their enrichment program—would be considered acceptable.
“It would be a surprise if there was anything worth listening to” from the Iranian side, said one of the officials, who is well-briefed on the talks.
Only once in the 10 months of EU-Iran contacts did Tehran indicate it was ready to suspend enrichment—in September 2006. That confidential offer was made—and subsequently withdrawn—by Ali Larijani, who resigned last month and was replaced by Jalili.
While Larijani was considered a relative moderate, Jalili is a hardliner loyal to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who has shown no sign of compromise in the nuclear dispute. One of the officials said that the rapport established at the talks had disappeared with the replacement of Larijani, additionally clouding chances of success.
Solana’s planned report will follow one by International Atomic Energy Agency head Mohamed ElBaradei. That summary earlier this month confirmed Iran was cooperating more than before with an IAEA probe of past suspicious nuclear activities. But it noted that Iran had expanded its capacities 10-fold over a year and was now running 3,000 centrifuges—enough to produce enough enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon within 18 months, should Tehran choose that route.
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yeah, “à force de ménager la chèvre et le chou” (sparing the goat and the cabbage drives nowhere), even no shit, the goat hasn’t eaten the cabbage !
November 30th, 2007 at 4:18 am18 months? Weren’t the last 3 decades a hint?
November 30th, 2007 at 4:31 am“Something Lost in Translation”…”
It’s the “moral” of the proverbe
November 30th, 2007 at 4:40 amThese talks have produced something: The world knows without a doubt the iranians are going to produce nuclear weapons and are not open to negoitiations to stop it.
It just makes it easy to justify further actions, be they sanctions or kenetics.
November 30th, 2007 at 4:51 amYou citizens of iran better choose a side and act on it now before your sky darkens with our machines of war.
Well, its about freaking time the UN gets it. Iran TOLD THE UN (Verbatim) we can talk all you like, were NOT dropping the program.
November 30th, 2007 at 6:32 amHow much clearer did Iran have to make it?
LtBhndAgn
You are correct sir the Iranians are not going to stop.
November 30th, 2007 at 6:58 amSteve in NC
I vote for super sonic kinetics!!
“à force de ménager la chèvre et le chou”
November 30th, 2007 at 7:03 amI like franchies quotes, I’ll bet some of our quotes don’t translate too well in to French! I don’t see anyone else here commenting in a language that’s foreign to them.
Wow, something happened to the franchie quote I copied and pasted!!
November 30th, 2007 at 7:04 am@Steve in NC -
You citizens of iran better choose a side and act on it now before your sky darkens with our machines of war.
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Alls I can say is … yup!
November 30th, 2007 at 7:26 am@Franchie—-
November 30th, 2007 at 7:32 amDamn, that made my brain hurt!
don’t do that shit so early in the morning.
Eating the chicken with the apple drives the sky and turns the worm unless the grey dog barks.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:09 amhehe, deathstar, in ordinary word ?
“manger du poulet avec des pommes ramène le ciel bleu et chasse la tempête à moins que le chien gris n’aboie”
November 30th, 2007 at 8:19 amOver the last several years, the IAEA has repeatedly found traces of weapons-grade, highly enriched uranium in Iran.
Coincidence that it all came from contaminated equipment purchased from Pakistan / Russia / etc? I think not.
Iran’s nuclear program must be stopped
November 30th, 2007 at 8:24 amThe French; or as I like to refer to them: Cheese eating surrender Monkeys…
I do not even need to read this article to know what it says. The Iranians will use stall tactics and loud mouth rhetoric to get the UN to kiss their butts. We are going to pussyfoot with these people, until we wake up one morning and find that they have nuclear warheads ready to go. What do we do then? There should be no doubt in anyone’s head that Ahmadinijad is more than willing to blow himself and the entire middle East up if it means hastening the return of the lost Imam.
Fanatics warheads = deaths of millions
November 30th, 2007 at 8:29 amFanatics warheads - (Fanatics or warheads) = only chance for any form of peace…
Michael A. Davis
“The French; or as I like to refer to them: Cheese eating surrender Monkeys…”
were you bred with a parrot ?
even a parrot has more than one once of brain cell that can help him to be wit in repeating moronic sentences of a cartoon racist scottish character
November 30th, 2007 at 9:06 amNo shit? Imadinnerjacket is not going to play nice? Whoda thunk it?/sarc off
Tell you what, either we do the deed or Israel does. Olmert or no Olmert, Iran having nukes is a direct threat to Israel’s survival. Israel knows this. They’re being pushed to the wall by the Annapolis national suicide meeting, they just might decide they got nothing to lose.
SOMEBODY needs to do it.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:31 amThe IAEA has repeatedly found traces of highly enriched uranium (weapons-grade) at several Iranian sites.
Coincidence that it came from purchased equipment from Pakistan / Russia / etc? I think not.
Iran’s nuclear program MUST BE STOPPED
November 30th, 2007 at 9:53 amThe Navy and the Air Force haven’t had a real workout since OIF I. I expect they’ll soon be in the spotlight.
Maybe the French Fleet will show up, assuming the props don’t fall of their ship yet again.
BTW, Franchie, has your (lone) carrier left drydock this decade?
November 30th, 2007 at 12:25 pmtic tic boom boom
I got some news for you, sorry darling, you’ll have to take a translator
http://www.marine-marchande.com/info-en-direct-1797.htm
http://www.defense.gouv.fr/marine/decouverte/equipements/maintenance/le_charles_de_gaulle_au_bassin
The carrier will be operational next spring
euh, I don’t see something happening before though (from your side )
he, some kind of wiseness is influencing your “etat-major”
need the french appreciation somewhere
tournée générale :
…
December 1st, 2007 at 5:43 am@Franchie:
Thank you for making my point.
Next spring? Really? I’ll believe it when I see it.
December 1st, 2007 at 9:16 pm