The
IAEA report appears to vindicate Iran, according to Farideh Farhi writing at Juan Cole's
Global Affairs blog. Farhi reports that the only thing standing in the way of further progress is US intransigence.
IAEA wants Iran to sign the Additional Protocol. Iran has said that its previous offer of signing the protocol is no longer on the table so long as Iran’s case at the UN Security Council. In short, Iran’s position is that it cannot be forced to sign an international agreement but it may consider doing so if the Western countries begin treating Iran’s nuclear program in the same way they treat other country’s nuclear programs. This position will be maintained even more steadfastly now that almost all the outstanding issues about Iran’s declared program have been resolved.
The conclusion of the essay is that everyone (with one notable exception) is ready to move on.
But the reality is that most people associated with this process are exhausted and ready to move on (with the notable exception of the Bush Administration folks that are just simply exhausted). Perhaps ElBaradei’s last words in his interview gives us some hints about the exhaustion (and exasperation) the IAEA must be feeling regarding the continuation of the general political deadlock and the need to move on after years of what under other circumstances would be considered successful interaction between his Agency and a member country; interaction that has led to the resolution of significant technical issues . . .
I think, and I know rporter will agree, that Farhi misses the
meshuggah in the room - namely the Israeli leadership, bent on finding some
casus belli to wipe the Iranian theocracy
off the face of the earth from the pages of history.
