Tweet
A potential victory for diplomacy is brewing in Vienna. After initial reports about Iranian nuclear talks were termed “slow,” today negotiators have reached a draft deal on shipping Iran’s nuclear enrichment to Russia for processing.
Under the draft deal, most of Iran’s stockpile of low enriched uranium would be shipped out of the country for processing into fuel to make medical isotopes in a research reactor in Tehran.
Negotiators were unable to clinch a final agreement after more than two days of talks in the Austrian capital, apparently because the Iranian delegation, led by the ambassador to Vienna, did not have the authority to sign a far-reaching deal about which there was no consensus in Tehran.
Announcing the draft deal, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director, Mohamed ElBaradei, said it represented a balanced approach, offering to provide Iran with fuel for making medical isotopes, while building international confidence in Iran’s intentions by shipping much of its enriched uranium out of the country.
He said the document would now be sent to the capitals of the negotiating parties – Iran, the US, Russia and France – “for final approval” by Friday.
If the Vienna talks actually produce a deal this week, it would represent a major step forward for the Obama theory of diplomacy and negotiation over belligerence and militarism. It would lengthen considerably the timeline for Iran to potentially gather enough fuel for a nuclear device, though they have insisted (and official US intelligence still agrees) that they are not looking to build a weapon. By any measure, this would be a concrete victory, and hopefully would stall out the sanctions packages which even the Iranian opposition has warned against.
10 Comments
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About FDL News Desk
Equally important, it would take the wind out of Bibi, whose sabre- rattling grows his popularity in Israel and America. Russia’s cooperation is in no small way, a result of Obama’s decision to reverse Bush’s plan for missiles in Poland.
When an administration tones down the inflammatory rhetoric about Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program and does not keep repeating unsubstantiated claims along with the MSM…the tone changes.
Christ what would you do if you had Israel and the US pointing their weapons at you? What would you do if you were watching your country be encircled by the US?
Dave do you know about Flynt Leveretts’ new site The Race for Iran. When Leverett quit the Bush administration before the invasion of Iraq (I believe because he did not agree with their policies) I have tried to read everything he has written or said about the middle east
http://www.raceforiran.com/
Wonder if the biggies here at FDL could get Flynt and Hillary to come to a salon?
How will Limpy Limbaugh spin this into a negative? You know that he will try and try.
Just curious, how safely can this material be transported to Russia and back in a more highly enriched form?
He’ll say Iran is withholding secret stockpiles, as will Israel.
Frank Zappa .
I guess Iran now admits to having beer.
The deal is not the key. The verification procedures that allow transparency to the parties is the key. It’s more helpful than the Bush approach and moving in the right direction, but let’s not celebrate yet.
Getting played again, and thinking you won.
The Iranians are smarter than we give them credit for. They concede to one thing that won’t mean a damn, or change or stop them from carrying on with what they want to do. It will though stop the sanctions get everyone off their backs, and cover their ambitions.
Yes, but sweet Jeebuz, is there enough heart attack medicine in the Cheney cabinet to prevent Dickwad from collapsing over this…? No doubt John Bolton needs a heavier does of blood pressure meds when news like this hits the wires. Poor bastards.
Nothing wrong with ambitions, history proves Iran to be justified in desiring a deterrent from the Committee for the Liberation of Iran( and their oil). aka the US and Israel. You can be certain we fomented and funded the suicide attack this week on their border.
India certainly wants Nukes, and we have made a deal to sell them the bomb, despite Barak’s empty rhetoric about Nuclear disarmament. . No one brings this up, and they are a great threat to Pakistan and Kashmiri region. What’s the real difference here? Economic cooperation.