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Washington Mulls Upcoming Iran Nuclear Talks

(Al-Monitor) Barbara Slavin and Laura Rozen - U.S. and European officials have said that only tangible progress in the talks due to resume in Baghdad May 23 could convince them not to fully implement measures this summer that will bar Iran from selling oil to Europe and make it harder for Iran to receive payment from remaining customers. Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, says this is the time to intensify sanctions. He notes that there are 8-10 Iranian banks that have not been designated by the U.S. Treasury Department and 14 Iranian banks that have not been barred by SWIFT, the organization that facilitates international financial transactions. Sources briefed on the West's diplomatic deliberations have described the current thinking as presenting Iran with a menu of options. If Iran agrees, for example, to suspend 20%-enrichment, send out its stockpile of that uranium and stop operations at Fordo, then it would get X, Y, and Z: hypothetically, fuel for the Tehran research reactor, suspension of EU oil sanctions and perhaps spare Boeing parts for its civilian aircraft. If Iran agrees to just one or two of the concessions, it might get just fuel for the reactor. The lead U.S. negotiator to the P5+1, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, has been given discretion to negotiate based on such a menu of options.
2012-05-02 00:00:00
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