(Xinhua-China) Prior to the talks on Tehran's nuclear program, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed skepticism that Iran would be willing to give up its nuclear program. Israel has in the past accused Iran of exploiting the negotiations to buy time to continue advancing its nuclear program. Prof. Ze'ev Maghen, Chair of the Department of Middle Eastern History at Bar-Ilan University, said the international community "continue to believe that they can talk the Iranians down, or that they can bribe them down, or that they can threaten them down - but they can't do any of those things." "Looking at the history of these negotiations that goes back to the 1990s, it has been one long laughingstock. Basically, the ones who are laughing are the Iranians," Maghen said. He pointed out that, prior to every meeting, Iran's representatives state that, while they will be happy to meet with the international representatives, they have no intention of ending the enrichment of uranium.
2012-05-29 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive