|
Iran’s Nuclear Chess Game
By Nader Bagherzadeh and Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich
09/04/07 "ICH" -- -- Ali Larijani , who is the head of
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council responsible for
nuclear discussions with the West, has called nuclear
negotiations a “diplomatic chess.” Perhaps he is implying
that like a good chess player he plans a few moves ahead of
his opponent. After receiving two sanctions, Larijani had
taken the position that as long as the Security Council (SC)
refuses to return Iran’s case to the IAEA, Iran will not
clarify nuclear ambiguities that have been reported by the
Atomic Agency and will continue to reduce cooperation on
many additional inspection activities that are not within
the framework of the standard Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The grand wizard of current US interventionist foreign
policy, Dick Cheney and his cohorts such as Elliot Abrams,
were eager to take advantage of this situation and rally up
the support of the P5 members of the Security Council for a
third and more damaging sanction against Iran. Although the
War Party is very much in favor of a military outcome to the
current debacle, there are some that prefer the continuation
of sanctions to squeeze and isolate Iran even further and
not risk another preemptive war in the Middle East with a
far more devastating outcome.
However, Larijani’s decision to clarify nuclear activities
while under SC sanctions has made grand wizard’s job tougher
to get a unanimous support for yet another sanction. That is
probably one of the reasons why the war mongering rhetoric
from the White House has reached a dangerous level: The
opponent does not like Iran’s latest chess move and wants to
shake up the board. Bush’s incendiary speech at the American
Legion was a clear indication of Cheney’s frustration with
Iran and looking to find a way out of this juggernaut, by
elevating it to a military confrontation. After all the only
way Cheney can be assured that centrifuges will not continue
to work after he leaves office is to have them
destroyed--enrichment suspension is not good enough.
The result of Larijani’s bold reversal move could not bear
fruit unless both Javier Solana and Mohammad El Baradei were
willing to engage Iran while US was pushing for more
sanctions. El Baradei’s recent balanced comments regarding
Iran’s case to BBC and New York Times are truly exemplary of
a Nobel Peace laureate and if his actions prevent another
illegal and immoral attack by US, he should be fully
recognized by UN for his efforts. The IAEA’s latest report
has several interesting points about their agreement with
Iran for resolving existing concerns that are worth
discussing:
1. The plutonium related concerns have all been
satisfactorily addressed by Iran. Recall that plutonium is
one of the key elements to make a nuclear bomb and also a
byproduct of nuclear power reactor. Contrary to what US
officials have been saying IAEA does not confirm existence
of any plutonium reprocessing activities.
2. According to this agreement all the remaining concerns will
be addressed sequentially. Namely once a concern has been fully
resolved they will move on to the next one. This is a good move
for Iran, since it will allow them to close a file before moving
on to the next concern. The agreement schedule is as follows:
• Explain circumstances related to a more advanced centrifuge
machine that is in the R&D phase
• Resolve equipment contamination at Tehran University
• Explain uranium metal design document which could be related
to instructions for bomb making
• Explain Polonium 210 (Po 210) experimentation; this was used
by Russia for their early nuclear bomb designs and for poisoning
a former Russian agent in London and caused several death cases
in Israel more than 40 years ago
• Provide details about a uranium mine near Bandar Abbas
• Explain the alleged military nature of Iran’s nuclear program
on a “laptop” that was given by a defector to US
3. IAEA is expecting Iran to accept the highly intrusive
Additional Protocols (AP). Not all NPT members have accepted it.
For instance, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Brazil have not ratified
it yet. Once accepted AP will force the member country to, inter
alia, allow spot inspection of non-declared nuclear sites.
4. Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) at Natanz which is the source of
controversy with US has been running at a reduced capacity since
the last IAEA report. The number of cascades has increased from
8 to 12, but they are running at one tenth of the capacity.
Given the quality of Iranian engineers working on this project,
it is most likely due to political reasons that anything else.
The remaining 6 cascades are at different levels of preparation;
and it is likely that this slow down will continue unless the
third sanction is ratified. The Agency has also implemented a
variety of safeguards at the FEP, including unannounced
inspections.
5. IAEA has assigned a staggering 219 inspectors for Iran. This
must be a record for this organization for inspecting any
country in the past 50 years.
In spite of this, nothing can be achieved in an arena void of
honor. The mainstream media in reporting this intricate ‘chess
game’ has decided to champion the side of war and has given the
truth a ‘check mate’. Even ‘reputable’ papers such as The New
York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Washington Post have all
decided that serving a departing administration that has led the
nation into one quagmire is of greater importance than loyalty
to a nation consistent in its devotion to the flag. By violating
the truth and misinforming the public about the IAEA’s findings
on Iran’ cooperation with the Atomic Agency, the media’s
betrayal of the sons and daughters of a nation which goes to war
to make possible the existence of the free media, is nothing
short of treachery most brutally executed.
For deceit, we have others. An English Terrier that barked, and
a French Poodle that bites. Mr. Blair and Mr. Sarkouzy have
taken the war to the edge, waiting to push humanity into a dark
abyss where it will not be recovered. It will pass the gates of
hell, Dante’s inferno will no longer be a work of imagination –
for us, it will be our experience, our doom. Will the papers,
the media, be the trumpeters to this eternal hell that Mr.
Cheney has in mind?
Click
on "comments" below to
read or post comments
Comment
Guidelines
Be succinct, constructive and
relevant to the story.
We
encourage engaging, diverse and
meaningful commentary. Do not
include personal information such
as names, addresses, phone
numbers and emails. Comments
falling outside our guidelines
– those including personal
attacks and profanity – are
not permitted.
See our complete
Comment
Policy and
use
this link to notify us if you
have concerns about a comment.
We’ll promptly review and
remove any inappropriate
postings.
Send Page To a Friend
In accordance
with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material
is distributed without profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving the
included information for research and educational
purposes. Information Clearing House has no
affiliation whatsoever with the originator of
this article nor is Information ClearingHouse
endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
|
