Talks With Iran

The Iran Six – China, Germany, France, Great Britain, Russia and the United States – have decided to accept Tehran’s invitation for talks. Javier Solana, responsible for the European Union’s foreign policy, had already met with the Iranian leader’s representatives and announced on Friday that he wished to set a definite date for the talks as soon as possible.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottkai sent the EU a five-page letter last Wednesday that contained a list of basic subjects to be considered for long-term negotiations, but stopped short of agreeing to one central demand made by both the United States and European Union. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and other officials had no interest in taking part in discussions centering exclusively on Iran’s civilian nuclear energy program. Mottaki did mention on Sunday the possibility of including Iran’s nuclear program on the agenda along with other subjects “provided conditions were suitable.” On the same day, Defense Minister Ahmed Wahidi emphasized that the production of nuclear weapons has never been Iran’s goal. “We regard the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction to be incompatible with our religious, humanitarian and national principles,” he said.

Philip Crowley, spokesman for the U.S. State Department, who at first rejected the Iranian offer as “inadequate,” said on Friday that he was skeptical about the prognosis for success of the talks. “Clearly, if Iran refuses to negotiate seriously, we – the United States and the international community and the UN Security Council – can draw conclusions from that. And then based on that, we’ll make some judgments in the future,” Crowley said. On Saturday, the New York Times quoted unnamed government officials as saying that U.S. “willingness to proceed was based in part on a recognition that some form of talks had to take place before the United States could make a case for imposing far stronger sanctions on Iran.”

The Israeli government and its lobby in the U.S., meanwhile, are redoubling efforts to sabotage the negotiations and are pushing for even stricter sanctions against Iran. For a call to action in Iran last Thursday, hundreds of the lobby’s speakers and supporters went to Washington to pressure members of Congress. On the same day, the neo-conservative Wall Street Journal published an article endorsed by ex-Senators Charles Robb and Daniel Coats as well as retired Air Force General Charles F. “Chuck” Wald. The authors of the article claimed that the diplomatic approach to Iran had already failed and called upon President Obama to implement a “new strategy” consisting mainly of immediate preparations for military action.