"The issue has great symbolic importance to Israel, just as it does to Iran. Netanyahu fundamentally wants Iran to abandon any possibility of developing a nuclear weapon, which means dismantling its enrichment capability rather than codifying a supposed right to it.
U.S. negotiators believe that history shows the capitulation approach doesn’t work with Iran. Back in 2003, when President Hassan Rouhani was his country’s nuclear negotiator, Iran offered concessions to the West to limit its program. At that time, Iran had about 164 centrifuges. The United States and Israel refused that deal and decided to squeeze harder. Today, Iran has 19,000 centrifuges.
Now, U.S. officials fear a similar process will repeat itself, as Netanyahu’s push for the best possible deal sabotages the good deal that could freeze the Iranian program."
"The issue has great symbolic importance to Israel"? Who is Ignatius seeking to delude? Iran has repeatedly called for the annihilation of Israel.
As Iran's chief negotiator, Rouhani "offered concessions to the West"? This is pure hokum. In a pre-election interview, Rouhani, all smiles, bragged how he had lulled the West into complacency while radically expanding Iran's nuclear weapons development program (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjbrqPK-BBg).
"Netanyahu’s push for the best possible deal sabotages the good deal that could freeze the Iranian program"? More nonsense. Two weeks ago, Obama and Kerry were seeking to sign off on an agreement with Iran that did not address continued construction of Iran's Arak IR-40 Heavy Water Reactor, designed to produce sufficient plutonium for two atomic bombs each year. It is no wonder that even France could not brook this obscenity, which it labelled a "fool's bargain."
Sorry, David, this is not an opinion piece. Rather, this is raw propaganda.
Well, it looks like Iran has a new nuclear site.
ReplyDeleteWe would like to think that the U.S. and Iran are indeed embarked on talks that could mark a breakthrough after decades of tension and proxy warfare. But wishful thinking and sweeping pronouncements from the White House will not make that a reality. There is simply no substitute for hard-nosed negotiations that insist on an end to Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions.
ReplyDeleteOne essential requirement must be included in any pact with Iran, whether interim or long-term: the unfettered, unlimited and unbreakable right of U.N. inspectors to examine any nuclear-connected facility in Iran at any time and on a moment’s notice. Unless such an assurance is publicly included in clear and precise language, any pact will have neither the respect of the world nor the assurance of enforceability essential to making it a meaningful international agreement