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U.S. Mulls Seeking Broader Deal in Nuclear Talks with Iran

(Al-Monitor) Laura Rozen - The Obama administration is considering putting forward a broader proposal to Iran. Those arguing in favor of the "go big" approach say their thinking has been influenced by two recent diplomatic encounters with Iran that cast doubt on the viability of an incremental deal. Senior policy officials at the Defense Department are said to have favored offering a bigger deal to Iran, accompanied by a military threat were it not accepted. International negotiators have, to date, proposed a step-by-step incremental process for resolving international concerns about Iran's nuclear program. They laid out a detailed proposal for an interim confidence-building measure at their last meeting with Iran in Baghdad in May. That proposal asked Iran to stop its 20%-enrichment activities, ship out its stockpile of 20%-enriched uranium, and halt operations at the fortified Fordo uranium-enrichment site. "The Iranians made clear at Baghdad they were not interested," a Western official said. He said the administration sought to trade irreversible concessions for irreversible concessions. "We would view an irreversible concession as the lifting of sanctions. And in return they would have to take an irreversible step." The Iranians seem to be under the mistaken impression that we don't want sanctions to go into effect at the end of June, he said.
2012-06-13 00:00:00
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