{"id":8182,"date":"2010-09-22T12:13:38","date_gmt":"2010-09-22T20:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/?p=8182"},"modified":"2010-09-22T12:13:38","modified_gmt":"2010-09-22T20:13:38","slug":"wednesday-iran-talking-points-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/22\/wednesday-iran-talking-points-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Wednesday Iran Talking Points"},"content":{"rendered":"

from LobeLog<\/a>: News and Views Relevant to U.S.-Iran relations for September 22nd, 2010:<\/em><\/p>\n

Politico<\/a><\/em>: Former Amb. Stuart Eizenstat and Mark Brzezinski, a former Clinton NSC official and Obama campaign adviser, write an opinion piece raising the curtain on the upcoming National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran. They call the 2007 NIE, which said Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a severe setback for U.S. efforts to isolate Iran,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and hope this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s incarnation \u00e2\u20ac\u0153answer the right questions and get the analysis straight.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d They then launch into a series of those \u00e2\u20ac\u0153right questions,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d such as wondering just how big Iran\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stockpile of nuclear material is, what advances it makes toward potential weaponization, what Iran\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nuclear time frame is, and whether the IAEA would \u00e2\u20ac\u0153be able to even detect a rapid push by Iran for a weapon\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (the Arms Control Assoc.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Peter Crail answered the last question with a definitive \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcyes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/a> a week ago). They also wonder if there is a consensus in Iran about acquiring nuclear weapons and ask if a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153democratic Iran\u00e2\u20ac\u009d would still pursue the alleged weapons program. They also ask questions about the sanctions-busting of Turkey and China; wonder about the prospects for the opposition Green Movement; and what type of regional role Iran seeks.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Times<\/a><\/em>: Paul Richter writes from New York that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that there is a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153good chance\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that Iran will come back to the negotiating table with the West over the Islamic Republic\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nuclear program. The talks are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153bound to happen,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Ahmadinejad told a group of reporters who ate breakfast with him Tuesday morning. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What is left is talks\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no other way,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he added, also saying, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153there is no alternative.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Ray Takeyh, a former Obama administration and fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said that while Ahmadinejad has been a booster of engagement, Iran\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s real head-of-state, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, remains opposed. Richter also reported other statements from Ahmadinejad where he warned that war \u00e2\u20ac\u0153has no limits\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201d a reference to a potential U.S. or Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear sites. An Iranian political scientist traveling with the Iranian delegation to the UN General Assembly told Richter that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153there had been behind-the-scenes diplomatic conversations and that a resumption of U.S.-Iran talks might be announced soon.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The Washington Post<\/a><\/em>: In an interview with Lally Weymouth, Turkish president Abdullah Gul defended his country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s enforcement of sanctions against Iran and Ankarah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s relations with Israel and the U.S. Gul said that Turkey abides by binding sanctions against Iran and will not allow a controversial Iranian bank to operate within Turkey, called on Iran to be more transparent with its nuclear program and denounced Israel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s raid on the Gaza flotilla. Defending his willingness to meet with Ahmadinejad, Gul said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We tell them to be more conciliatory,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and called on the U.S. to better understand the constructive role that Turkey plays in diplomatic negotiations with Iran. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153[W]e have the capacity to help and I believe the U.S. administration has understood that, and they want us to continue to go that route,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n

Foreign Policy<\/a><\/em>: Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar writes about the Iranian perception of U.S. sanctions and warns that while \u00e2\u20ac\u0153these ongoing pressures might bite, but they can also empower the IRGC and other institutions that are able to do an end run around the sanctions and get the country what it needs from the black market.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d More importantly, says Tabaar, the sanctions reaffirm Ayatollah Khamenei\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s strategy of portraying his country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s domestic policies through an ant-U.S. prism. With a sanctions regime, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Khamenei remains content with the status quo: more sanctions and isolation. It conforms to his worldview, his experience and his vocabulary,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but \u00e2\u20ac\u0153if Khamenei sees a possible scenario that ensures his (and I emphasize his, not the moderates\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, not the conservatives\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, not the clerics\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, not even Ahmadinejad\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, but his) grip on power, he may very well take it into consideration.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Tabaar reports that news sources traditionally aligned with Khamanei have indicated the Turkish-Brazilian mediated agreement on nuclear fuel shipment could offer a real opportunity for meaningful progress to be made towards a mutually acceptable negotiated agreement between the U.S. and Iran.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

from LobeLog: News and Views Relevant to U.S.-Iran relations for September 22nd, 2010: Politico: Former Amb. Stuart Eizenstat and Mark Brzezinski, a former Clinton NSC official and Obama campaign adviser, write an opinion piece raising the curtain on the upcoming National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran. They call the 2007 NIE, which said Iran had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-8182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"meta_box":{"disable_donate_message":"","custom_donate_message":"","subtitle":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8182"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8183,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8182\/revisions\/8183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8182"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=8182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}