Iran And The 5+1 Proposal

Parviz Esmaeili
nuclear iran--As the 5+1 group awaits Iran’s response to its nuclear proposal, the International Atomic Energy Agency issued a report on Iran’s implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement on Thursday.

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei had previously prepared a report on Iran’s nuclear activities on April 28 which still remains to be studied by the agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors.

The new report, unlike the previous ones, is not very long and points out that no new information has been obtained from inspections, that Iran has provided the agency with further explanations about its plutonium experiments (Article 9), that all UF6 produced at the Isfahan Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF) remains under IAEA supervision (Article 11), that the enrichment process at the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP) in Natanz are covered by IAEA containment and surveillance measures, and, finally, that the agency has found no indication of the presence of particles of nuclear material on the samples it took from some corrosion resistant steel, valves and filters (Article 18).

A deviation of Iran’s nuclear activities towards a weapons program would only be possible through plutonium reprocessing and high-level enrichment, and the results of IAEA inspections mentioned in articles 9, 11, and 12 clearly indicate that Iran has cooperated completely with the agency on these two sensitive issues.

It should also be noted that all the points cited as examples where Iran has not cooperated or has failed to give a response to the IAEA are demands beyond the framework of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and its Safeguards Agreement and Additional Protocol. However, the report has confirmed in Article 15 that Iran has suspended the “voluntary” implementation of the Additional Protocol since February 5, 2006.

As for the 5+1 proposal, it should be acknowledged that this proposal is a great indication of Iran’s successful diplomacy in an unequal battle of three years.

The initial accusation against Iran in the IAEA’s June 2003 report was a reduction of a few kilograms of uranium core imported from China. At the time, representatives of the United States and Britain made it clear in their remarks that they believed that Iran did not even have the right to talk about nuclear technology.

Since the beginning of the nuclear challenge, none of the resolutions issued by the IAEA Board acknowledged Iran’s right based on Article 4 of the NPT. This is also true about the Tehran and Paris agreements between Iran and the European Union, the London statement, and the statement issued by the UN Security Council in late April.

The most positive point in the 5+1 proposal is the fact that it has not mentioned Iran’s obligations based on articles 1 and 2 of the NPT. This is a serious sign of the West’s acceptance of the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear activities.

The fact that the U.S. has backed the proposal and has announced its readiness to hold direct talks with Iran, particularly after years of threats and psychological warfare, clearly shows that it has accepted Iran’s important role in international relations and its great negotiating power. This approach indicates a strategic leap by Iran to a level higher than a regional power and a country that enjoys a high status among Muslim and regional nations.

If we take a fair look at the difficult technical and political conditions of the past three years, we will see that Iran vigilantly and cleverly forced the U.S. to put the ball in its opponent’s court. They propose, we study. Washington’s official entrance into talks shows that establishing a wolf and lamb relationship with Iran is no longer possible.

Therefore, we should avoid extremist and emotional approaches, trust the officials responsible for dealing with the issue, and accept their decision as the decision of the Islamic system.

Washington’s agreement with the proposal is not a sign that it has changed its policy toward Iran but is a sign of the country’s efforts to conceal its failure to create a global consensus against Iran, its humiliation in Iraq and Palestine, and the unprecedented fall in the popularity of President Bush and the Republicans. Finally, it is also an effort to show that major powers are allied with the United States. However, Washington is not pleased about the development of strategic ties between Iran and international powers.

Contrary to some viewpoints, the Islamic Republic will not reject an unopened package since it seeks to maintain its national interests through peaceful cooperation with the world. Such an approach is only expected from a unilateral and isolated government.

Islamic Iran, which currently pursues a shrewd international strategy, pays due heed to the legitimate concerns of the international community and thus is the leader in efforts to establish a Middle East free of nuclear weapons and insists on observing its NPT obligations.

Iran’s priority is the complete restoration of the nation’s rights through mutual understanding and cooperation in the international arena, and it will study any opportunity in this regard. Rejecting the smallest opportunities that would help safeguard the national interests would be illogical.

The international atmosphere and global relations are neither ideal nor unreal but real and comparative, like a huge corporation in which the shares of each nation are determined through a proper understanding of every situation and the talent to turn threats into opportunities and small opportunities into huge gateways.

This is what Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei calls “subtle diplomacy”, the art of acting in international relations in such a way to protect and strengthen national interests to the utmost level.

The key to succeed through “subtle diplomacy” is to make decisions in a balanced and calm manner.
source:Tehran Times
posted by ali ghannadi-irannuk