Nuclear Standoff
Iran has made it clear that no one can prevent it from having a peaceful nuclear program. The Iran nuclear issue can only be comprehensively addressed through face to face negotiations between Iran, America and Europe. America and Iran have to come out of the diplomatic and economic wilderness they have been in for the last 27 years, establish diplomatic relations and start a direct dialogue on how to resolve the nuclear dispute with a solution that allows Iran to develop nuclear power for peaceful means. Burying the past is the key to better future U.S.-Iran relations. To expect the world’s fourth largest oil exporter to abandon its right to nuclear technology is delusional.
Iran has said it has enriched uranium to 4.8 per cent as of the late summer of 2006, far below the more than 90 percent level needed for a bomb. Iran hopes to reach a level of 20 per cent to fuel a light water reactor it plans to build. Iran is adamant that it is enriching uranium solely to generate electricity. America and Israel are convinced Iran’s nuclear program is a front for building atom bombs. Iran did pursue a clandestine nuclear program for 18 years until it was uncovered by the International Atomic Agency in 2003. All the more reason America and Iran must sit down and talk to each other directly.
To block Bank Saderat, one of Iran’s largest state-owned banks, from being able to use the U.S. financial system, because it had helped transfer hundreds of millions of dollars to terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah and Hamas, something America has known for years, is a short sighted unilateral play that was called. America lost the poker hand, no different than a lot of the great poker champs in sinking Las Vegas.
Iranian financial institutions have not been able to deal directly with the U.S. financial institutions since diplomatic relations were discontinued. They nevertheless continued to do business and have access to the U.S. financial system indirectly by working through foreign banks. These so-called U-turn transactions allow U.S. banks to process payments involving Iran if the money transfer begins and ends with a non-Iranian foreign bank. A sanction that is meaningful politically, but totally impractical.
Iran is entitled to a realistic political, nuclear and economic deal that is as rewarding to Iran as it is to America and the West. Iranians do have the right to technology and deterrence. What sovereign state isn’t? Of course, that doesn’t count the countries that gave up those rights voluntarily, Libya, being one such example. Let’s not forget the damage Libya did before it gave up its pursuit of nuclear technology. We do not want to encourage Iran down the path America sent Libya.
A lasting agreement on the Iran nuclear standoff is imperative to a lasting peace in the Middle East ─ starting with Lebanon. The alternative is ugly.
Iran has said it has enriched uranium to 4.8 per cent as of the late summer of 2006, far below the more than 90 percent level needed for a bomb. Iran hopes to reach a level of 20 per cent to fuel a light water reactor it plans to build. Iran is adamant that it is enriching uranium solely to generate electricity. America and Israel are convinced Iran’s nuclear program is a front for building atom bombs. Iran did pursue a clandestine nuclear program for 18 years until it was uncovered by the International Atomic Agency in 2003. All the more reason America and Iran must sit down and talk to each other directly.
To block Bank Saderat, one of Iran’s largest state-owned banks, from being able to use the U.S. financial system, because it had helped transfer hundreds of millions of dollars to terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah and Hamas, something America has known for years, is a short sighted unilateral play that was called. America lost the poker hand, no different than a lot of the great poker champs in sinking Las Vegas.
Iranian financial institutions have not been able to deal directly with the U.S. financial institutions since diplomatic relations were discontinued. They nevertheless continued to do business and have access to the U.S. financial system indirectly by working through foreign banks. These so-called U-turn transactions allow U.S. banks to process payments involving Iran if the money transfer begins and ends with a non-Iranian foreign bank. A sanction that is meaningful politically, but totally impractical.
Iran is entitled to a realistic political, nuclear and economic deal that is as rewarding to Iran as it is to America and the West. Iranians do have the right to technology and deterrence. What sovereign state isn’t? Of course, that doesn’t count the countries that gave up those rights voluntarily, Libya, being one such example. Let’s not forget the damage Libya did before it gave up its pursuit of nuclear technology. We do not want to encourage Iran down the path America sent Libya.
A lasting agreement on the Iran nuclear standoff is imperative to a lasting peace in the Middle East ─ starting with Lebanon. The alternative is ugly.
posted by Peter de Krassel's Custom Maid Politics at 2:29 AM
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