Iran's Saeed Jalili: Tehran Doesn't Intend to Stop Producing Uranium Enriched to 20 Percent

After 10 hours of talks in Istanbul on Saturday, characterized by Catherine Ashton, first High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union, as "constructive and useful," we learned that the P5 + 1 is willing to agree to continued Iranian nuclear enrichment activities and is not demanding that Iran's Fordo underground nuclear facility be dismantled. Moreover, a "Turkish government source" stated that there is a "sense" that Iran is prepared to temporarily halt uranium enrichment at the level of 20 percent in exchange for immediate lifting of some sanctions and the termination of others (see: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/iran-demands-u-s-europe-hold-off-attack-as-long-as-nuclear-talks-continue-sources-say-1.424257).

Given this rosy outlook on the part of Ashton and friends, it was agreed that P5 + 1 representatives would again meet with their Iranian counterparts in another month and a half in Baghdad without any demands upon Tehran in the interim.

Well, I'm sorry to be a party pooper, but according to Iran's Mehr News (http://www.mehrnews.com/en/newsdetail.aspx?NewsID=1577876), the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, declared following the meetings in Istanbul:

"Tehran does not intend to stop producing uranium enriched to a purity level of 20 percent."

Catherine Ashton is an imbecile (see: http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.com/2012/04/iran-april-2012-when-fate-of-west.html), and it is beyond belief that the Obama administration agreed to entrust her with managing the negotiations on behalf of the “P5+1.”

On the other hand, perhaps her witless engagement with Jalili, intended to forestall an unpleasant confrontation with Tehran prior to the US presidential elections in November, is exactly what the Obama administration was seeking . . .