IRAN: A press summary of nuclear defiance
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The U.S., Europe and other powers hope to get Iran to stop its uranium enrichment program by offering it a package of economic and security incentives.
But judging by recent murmurs in the Iranian press, the conservatives now dominating Iran’s political and security establishment don’t sound like they’re ready to deal.
On the contrary, the right-wing Iranian press has a struck a triumphant tone and dismissed any compromise over the nuclear program, which the leadership of the Islamic Republic is trying to embed into the country’s national identity.
By now most everyone knows the broad outlines of the conflict between Tehran and the rest of the world over Iran’s nuclear program. Iran insists it is creating its own nuclear fuel and building other atomic infrastructure as part of a peaceful energy program. The U.S., Europe and Israel suspect Iran is trying to master nuclear technology to build atomic weapons somewhere down the line. There’s been a lot of diplomatic back and forth as Iran continues to build up its nuclear program.
European officials hope they can convince Iran it’s in its best interests to stop enriching uranium. But here’s the conservative Resalat newspaper on Wednesday regarding the reaction of the West to Iran’s recent push to expand its uranium enrichment capacity:
The defeated and depressed rulers of the West were calculating the cost of their failures in dealing with Iran’s nuclear victory. In the current sensitive situation both the West and Iran have reached the point of no return, but there is big difference between the two sides. Iran has reached the point of no return in its nuclear achievements and cannot backtrack from its progress, while the West has reached the point of confessing its defeat in confronting Iran.
Not too encouraging. Any Iranian compromise on its nuclear program seems foolish to the conservative Jam-e-Jam, another daily paper:
It has now been proven that the policy of making concessions and compromising with the West cannot solve any of our problems, but may whet Western appetite to become more demanding. Insisting on our legitimate rights will make our enemies recognize Iran’s legitimate rights.
And the hard-line daily Siyasat-e-Ruz takes it a step further. It ignores the international outcry, United Nations Security Council Resolutions and growing worldwide isolation of Iran over its nuclear program and hails it as an achievement for all of humanity:
By acquiring local nuclear technology,the Islamic Republic of Iran has found a new firm position not only in the region but also in the international community. Iran has foiled Western attempts to monopolize the production of nuclear fuel in the world, which is a big achievement for the international community.
Views expressed in the press don’t necessarily reflect the views of Iranian officials in charge of the country’s foreign policy or nuclear program. But they can’t be brushed aside as idle chatter either. The right-wing papers are known to be close to factions within the ruling establishment.
— Borzou Daragahi in Beirut