U.S., Allies Want Iran to Abandon Nuclear Weapons Research

By Merle D. Kellerhals, Jr.

From its location at the crossroads of the Middle East and South Asia, Iran could threaten three continents and eventually the United States in the next decade if it had nuclear weapons, says a senior U.S. diplomat. However, its greatest threat is to moderate states within the region.

The goal of the United States "is to convince Iran to forever abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions and urge Tehran to become a better neighbor in the region," says Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs. "We are committed to a diplomatic solution to pressure the Iranian regime to change its behavior on the nuclear issue."

The U.S. diplomatic strategy toward Iran is a dual-track approach working with the other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - Britain, China, France and Russia - plus Germany, a group often referred to as the P5+1. In the first instance, the allies specifically want Iran to abandon once and for all any long-term nuclear weapons ambitions, he said.

"Also to help prompt such a strategic shift, the second track of our policy is represented by our standing offer of a generous package of incentives that cover the gamut of political, economic, technological and social benefits that would accrue to the Iranian people were the regime to resolve international concerns with its nuclear activities," Feltman said in recent testimony before a House foreign affairs subcommittee.

The subcommittee was conducting an oversight hearing to examine U.S. policy options to prevent a nuclear Iran and their potential effectiveness, but also to determine if additional legislation might be required.

As part of the incentives offering, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has pledged that she would willingly meet with her Iranian counterpart if Iran would suspend all uranium enrichment and proliferation-sensitive activities, he said.

"Since May 2006, we have presented Iran with an increasingly stark choice between two paths - confrontation and isolation or cooperation and reward," he said.

In addition to this two-track approach, Feltman said, the United States continues to support efforts by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has been struggling for six years with Iran for cooperation in its investigations.

Feltman said the United States has stressed the use of all tools and options are still on the table for possible use - including multilateral diplomacy, financial measures, counterproliferation actions such as weapons interdictions and - as a final resort - the threat and use of military force.

One significant concern has been Iran's continued use of centrifuges to conduct uranium enrichment, which could be used for peaceful civilian purposes or for weapons development.

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said April 17 that Iran has between 3,300 and 3,400 centrifuges of 1970s vintage operational in its Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, which is an increase from 3,000 at the end of 2007. He has urged Iran to suspend uranium enrichment until the dispute with world powers over its nuclear intentions is resolved.

The IAEA will launch more talks April 21 to press the Iranian regime on answers to questions on its nuclear ambitions. "This is an issue of importance, obviously. The international community needs to make sure Iran did not have a weapons program," ElBaradei told Reuters in Berlin.

Iran has maintained that it wants to produce nuclear fuel only for the production of electricity so that it can export more oil. "I continue to call on Iran not to speed the process because we first need to have an agreement before Iran moves forward with its enrichment program," ElBaradei said at a news briefing in Berlin.

Centrifuges are used to spin compounds of uranium at high speed to separate and concentrate the most fissile isotope of the element for use as nuclear fuel.

Daniel Glaser, deputy assistant treasury secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes, told the subcommittee that U.S. financial sanctions against Iran are having an impact, blunting Iranian efforts to obtain nuclear weapons and aid terrorist groups.

"Financial measures are an integral component of U.S. and international efforts to counter Iran's threatening behavior," Glaser testified. "Through our authorities and our engagement with counterparts around the world, we are implementing a financial strategy that is having an impact."

Aspects of Iran's covert nuclear program were first disclosed publicly in August 2002. The IAEA began an extensive investigation into the program and uncovered numerous violations of Iran's IAEA Safeguards Agreement that included nuclear facilities and activities it had failed to declare to the IAEA.

The investigation also revealed Iranian procurement of sensitive nuclear items and materials from illicit nuclear supply networks, Feltman said. As a result of the IAEA's reports to the U.N. Security Council, the Security Council imposed three different sanctions on Iran in December 2006, March 2007 and March 2008.

"The true effects of multilateral sanctions, especially on a regime's decision-making, are difficult to gauge. However, at a minimum, these sanctions are limiting Iran's access to sensitive technologies and goods, with the possible impact of slowing Iran's nuclear and missile development," Feltman testified.

Peter Rodman, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington and a former U.S. defense official, said in an interview late in 2007 that there is a serious debate going on inside Iran because of the new economic sanctions. He said a recent U.S. intelligence report on Iran's nuclear ambitions indicates that the Iranian regime "is susceptible to international pressures. And I think the [Bush] administration is right to want to maintain the momentum of the current diplomacy."

Source: U.S. Department of State

judythpiazza@newsblaze.com