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Enrichment Deal with Iran Would Build World Confidence

By Stephen Kaufman  

The Obama administration continues to expect a favorable response from Iran to a proposed deal that would allow Iran to obtain nuclear fuel for medical isotopes, but Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton noted that internal debate within the Iranian government may account for its failure thus far to respond to the international offer.

Speaking from Berlin on November 9, where Clinton met with German leaders and attended events marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, she told an American television program, the Charlie Rose Show, that the United States, along with its partners in the P5+1 group - Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France and Germany - are serious in their offer of allowing Iran to export uranium supplies to be more highly enriched so that they can be used for medical purposes in a Tehran research reactor.

"There are certain safeguards that could be agreed to that they would get their uranium back once it had been enriched. But they have to take this step as a confidence-building measure with the international community, and I hope that they will do so," Clinton said.

The P5+1 countries and others in the international community share the goal of preventing or dissuading Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, the secretary said. At the same time, "We've made it clear that they have a right to nuclear power that is civil and peacefully used."

International concerns were heightened after a second Iranian secret nuclear facility that could potentially enrich uranium to make a weapon was disclosed in September. (See "United States Has Known of Iranian Facility "for Several Years" ( http://www.america.gov/st/mena-english/2009/September/20090925155924esnamfuak4.726809e-02.html ).")

It would be "immensely reassuring to the world" if Iran agrees to the enrichment deal, she said. "It would demonstrate good faith on their part, [and] it would open the door to further talks about their nuclear program."

Iran had originally accepted the agreement in principle and remained "very favorably disposed toward it" when Iranian officials met with the P5+1 in Vienna on October 1, Clinton said. (See "Obama Says Iran Talks 'Constructive' but Need Follow-Up Action ( http://www.america.gov/st/mena-english/2009/October/20091001165145esnamfuak0.969494.html ).")

But the secretary said the United States is aware of ongoing debate within the Iranian leadership that is concurrent with the wait for its official response to the deal, citing both internal discussions concerning the ongoing political turmoil from the country's June 12 presidential elections, as well as "jockeying" among the country's leaders.

"Some of it has got more to do with [President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad than it does with us or with this proposal," she said. "This is not a confident leadership because of the pressures that are coming from within Iran as well as from outside."

Clinton said the development of nuclear weapons runs counter to Iranian interests. "It is not in Iran's interest to have a nuclear arms race in the Gulf, where they would be less secure than they are today. It is not in Iran's interest, to the Iranian people's interest, to be subjected to very onerous sanctions."

The protests against President Ahmadinejad and Iran's ruling clerics following the June 12 elections have continued, most recently with opposition demonstrations that coincided with the 30th anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran during the Iranian revolution.

Regarding the opposition protests, Secretary Clinton said, "I don't think we're, by any means, at the end of that story."

President Obama has told Iranian leaders that the United States desires "a civil diplomatic relationship" with Iran "that could lead to negotiations that would lower the temperature and try to diminish the mistrust" between the two countries. "But it takes two to do that," Clinton said.

"And certainly, the way the Iranian government handled the elections, the response to legitimate opposition, has been very disconcerting because it demonstrates they don't trust their own people. It's not only that they trust us, they don't trust many Iranians," she said.

Obama has "gone the extra mile" in pursuit of engagement with Iran's leaders, she said. But, "If they cannot overcome their mistrust and their internal political dynamics, then we have to do what we think is in our best interests."

A transcript of the Clinton interview ( http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2009/November/20091110130524xjsnommis0.1892206.html ) is available on America.gov.

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)