IRAN: No progress, no movement, no nothin' on deadlocked talks over nuclear program

An informal Dec. 31 deadline set by the Obama administration came and went, but little progress has been made in breaking the logjam over Iran's nuclear program one way or the other. 

Tehran appeared to deny reports by some Western news agencies that it had even submitted a formal counterproposal to the once-ballyhooed proposal to swap Iran's enriched uranium for nuclear fuel plates for a medical research reactor that's about to sputter out.

"Iran has offered no new proposal concerning the supply of fuel to the Tehran research reactor," Mehr news agency quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast as saying today, in a report cited by the website of Iran's state-owned Press TV channel. "Our views are the same as what was previously announced and basically there has been no new development regarding the issue."

A spokesman for the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, also told The Times there had been no new developments since the new year. 

"The proposal made by the IAEA in October 2009, which was supported by France, Russia and the United States, continues to be on the table," Gill Tudor, a spokesman for the agency, said in reference to the fuel-swap proposal.

Western diplomats did meet with the Iranian envoy to the atomic agency over the last couple of weeks in Vienna, two Western officials told The Times. 

By all accounts, the meetings went nowhere, with Iran insisting that the fuel swap take place on Iranian soil, a change to the original proposal that would negate its purpose of bringing Iran's fuel supply down below the threshold necessary to make a single nuclear bomb.

One diplomat said no one's quite sure whether Iran's response at the meetings was a "final answer" or whether negotiations could continue. 

Another Western diplomat told The Times that Iran was playing games to ease pressure on itself and avoid further sanctions. 

Among the diplomats in Vienna, there is already a great deal of fatigue and impatience over Iran.

There was never any real follow-up to last fall's talks in Geneva and Vienna. Diplomats say Iran agreed in principle to the Tehran research reactor proposal, then returned with what they considered an unworkable informal counterproposal and no formal reply. 

The IAEA's board of governors slapped Iran with a censure in November, which prompted Iran to announce it would launch more nuclear enrichment facilities.

Adding to the frustration for Western diplomats, over the weekend, they failed to get China to go along with pushing for a new round of U.N. Security Council sanctions.

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry this week launched a website touting its nuclear program.

Diplomats say it's still too early to predict what may happen in the six weeks before the next meeting of the IAEA board. But if Iran fails to help resolve the issues around its nuclear program, the agency has few tools at its disposal, save for slapping Iran with another toothless censure. 

-- Julia Damianova in Vienna and Borzou Daragahi in Beirut

Photo: A scene from a Tehran nuclear facility. Credit: Iran's Atomic Energy Organization website

Comments

[Sina]

I'm an Iranian, pro green movement. Nuclear technology is the right of all of us, regardless of color. First of all, there is nothing new in this article. It is a collage of western views, lies and deception in regards to Iranian nuclear issue. To alley the so called western powers concern, Iran offered the proposal to send its LEU in return 20 percent enriched uranium to use in its medical facilities. The "western powers" manipulated the proposal as well as public view to make everyone think that THEY are going out of their way and making this offer to Iran to resolve this situation, but Iranians are just hell-bound to continue their "nuclear weapons program". It is astonishing when a few countries with thousands of nuclear arms in their arsenal, making so much fuss about Iranian civilian nuclear program as if the world is about to end. Iran IS in compliance with NPT rules and regulations as their sites are being monitored by IAEA. It is the USA that is in violation of NPT. If you don't believe me, do a research. The criminal state of Israel with one of the largest nuclear bomb stockpile does not allow any IAEA inspections and is fully supported and supplied nuclear material-technology by USA, France, UK, and the rest of western gangsters. This hypocrisy and bullying tactic will only fuel the hatred towards the west and drives more countries to acquire nuclear weapons. It is time for USA and coalition of bullies to come clean and disarming themselves before preaching others on nuclear weapons. USA, the greatest hypocrite in the history of the world!

[efe yavuz]

thanks admin

1) Buying the fuel for TRR on the open market.
2) Buying the fuel using its stock of LEU to be sent out in batches.
3) Keeping its LEU at Kish, to be sent out in batches
4) Possibly sending its LEU to be sent out in batches.

That represents a lot of creative activity and diplomatic effort on the part of Iran. To be honest, all we've heard from the West so far is one take-it-or-leave-it offer.

Now that the Chinese have adopted a more rational stance, it's time the West followed its example, and engage in sincere diplomatic effort, rather than postured intransigence.

[daleandersen]

The real question is: after the current regime is gone and all the Imams are emasculated, will its more "liberal" replacement disarm? I wonder. The guys who are now protestors were our enemies when they held the reigns of power...

[keith]

It sounds like alot about nothing. I think these poor folks in Iran are just hard working people with not enough electricity. Why doesn't Barak Obama stop trying to control the whole world and just focos on his own country. Iran has never actually done anything wrong. Sure, it's true they hate jews, but lets be honest, lot's of people in the united states hated blacks enough to actually kill anyone that would free them from opression. Lot's of people in the united states hate Jews as well. Do you want to sanction everyone that hates some one else and builds a nuclear plant to power their tv, radios and allows them to switch their lightbulbs into the on positions? Some fixture that would be!

[Pirouz]

Come on now, Julia. The Iranians have put forward a number of proposals to be discussed:

1) Buying the fuel for TRR on the open market.
2) Buying the fuel using its stock of LEU to be sent out in batches.
3) Keeping its LEU at Kish, to be sent out in batches
4) Possibly sending its LEU to be sent out in batches.

That represents a lot of creative activity and diplomatic effort on the part of Iran. To be honest, all we've heard from the West so far is one take-it-or-leave-it offer.

Now that the Chinese have adopted a more rational stance, it's time the West followed its example, and engage in sincere diplomatic effort, rather than postured intransigence.