Iran's Charm Offensive to UN, Agrees to Nuclear Talks
- David Brunnstrom and Arshad Mohammed
Iran's new government took its diplomatic charm offensive to the UN on Monday and agreed to new talks this week on its nuclear program with top diplomats from six world powers, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. U.S. officials have also said a meeting is possible this week between President Barack Obama and Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani. Obama and Rouhani will both address the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.
(Reuters)
Playing by Iran's Rules - James Jay Carafano
Hassan Rouhani has one mission: to get the Europeans to back off sanctions while preserving Iran's option to go nuclear whenever it wants. The way to do that will be to 1) appear less threatening to the West, 2) offer to help the U.S. on some thorny geo-political problems, and 3) slow-walk Tehran's weapons programs while the regime perfects its long-range missiles.
So the deal looks like this. Iran helps perpetuate the Administration's face-saving fiction in Syria and its rush to the zero-option in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Tehran says less threatening things about Israel and goes slow on its nuclear program. For our part, the White House slow rolls sanctions and ignores European countries as they quietly ease their sanctions on Iran.
Meanwhile, the entire region will remain clouded by the shadow of the danger of a Tehran-triggered nuclear war.
(National Interest)
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UPDATES:
Charm Offensive? Hostile Iranian Messages on the Eve of Rouhani's UN Visit
Iranian President Rouhani attended a military parade in Tehran on Sept. 22, 2013, where he reviewed the forces and spoke.
Among the messages featured during the parade, in Persian and Arabic the Iranians wrote, "Death to America," while in English they wrote, "Down with America."
The parade included a line of missile transports carrying Shahab-3 missiles, which have a 1,300-km. range that can reach both Israel and American bases in the Persian Gulf. On the lead vehicle appeared a banner that reads: "Israel Should Cease to Exist."
Iran's apologists will say that the sentence is in the passive voice, so it is not clear how it ceases to exist. But the very fact that the Iranians attach a sign of this sort to a vehicle carrying Shahab-3 missiles means that Tehran itself is juxtaposing its intention to destroy Israel with the military means to carry it out.
Reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency last year contained information that Iran was seeking to remove the conventional warhead from a Shahab-3 missile and replace it with a spherical nuclear device.
(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
Rouhani Snubs US: Declines to Meet Obama - Jennifer Epstein
President Barack Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani did not meet at the UN on Tuesday, senior administration officials said. The White House had offered to have "an encounter" between the two leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, but Iranian officials ultimately declined. U.S. and Iranian officials had been discussing the possibility of an Obama-Rouhani meeting for days, an official said. Ultimately, though, "it was clear that it was too complicated for them."
(Politico)
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2 comments:
Certainly we cannot trust that anything has changed. However, the pessimistic view from the first article is amusing. It carps about the same things conservatives do---anything and everything. Syrian "fiction" Obama willingly misled, etc. Things do change, and whether they have changed or not, conservatives complain whatever Obama does---takes action---no good, no action, no good. The people who write these things are misguided and are not learning from history--they merely wish to repeat it. Syria gasses children and the American public and Congress don't care---but you think they will jump into war with Iran to save Israel? Why try diplomacy? War works so much better---i.e. Iraq (pause for laughter). Our war in Iraq created the Iran of today, and the climate that makes America unwilling to act in Syria. There are very few people who actually understand the Mideast, and they advised against the Iraq war. I think Obama is wise to council with them instead of inflammatory pundits, war mongers and pessimists. "Speak softly and carry a big stick" could work better in the Mideast. Certainly, speak arrogantly and use your stick did not get us much. As for the banners and rhetoric, I am quite sure Iran is filled with people that still hate America and want Israel destroyed---America has plenty of those people too. It remains to be seen if they are in power and/or the majority of the public, or just a vocal and annoying and ultimately inconsequential minority, like the Tea Party. Hardliners like that usually look nice at first, but eventually work themselves out of favor---like the Tea Party.
You lost me...the first article seems tame. Which article were you referring to?
Perhaps you meant the second article [the Carafano piece]]?
The part of it I shared [and liked] was his speculation on how a 'deal' could turn out [the second paragraph of the clip i used].
Were you offended by the full article or the part i included??
Bruce :}
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