Quotes That Susan Rice Does Not Want to Read
There’s one up high in this morning’s New York Times piece on the Iran/Turkey/Brazil uranium enrichment deal: According to a Western diplomat who spoke in
Jul 31, 20207.4K Shares285.9K Views
There’s one up high in this morning’s New York Times pieceon the Iran/Turkey/Brazil uranium enrichment deal:
“„According to a Western diplomat who spoke in return for anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters, the amount of low-enriched uranium that Iran was prepared to ship to Turkey was believed to represent a little more than half its current stockpile.
“„“The situation has changed,” the diplomat said.
If you read on in the piece, you’ll see that Iran’s move may not be enough to satisfy the so-called P5+1′s concerns about an Iranian weapons program:
“„In Tehran, the Foreign Ministry spokesman told a person attending the news conference that Iran would not, for example, suspend its program to enrich uranium to 20 percent — which brings it closer to weapons grade.
Still waiting on an actual official reply from the Obama administration here. But in the meantime, Amb. Susan Rice’s next few weeks are going to be consumed with shepherding a sanctions package through a Security Council that at the very least would rather not pass a new round of sanctions on Iran. The Iranian negotiating posture to date has been to bust up punitive-minded coalitions at the last minute with the prospect of cooperation, so it’s diplomatic malpractice if this comes as a surprise. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t wavering nations who’d want to get off the sanctions bus at the first sign of Iranian openness to a longed-for enrichment deal. What the administration says — and Rice does — today in reaction to the new offering will be crucial.
Paula M. Graham
Reviewer
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