Word: ahmadinejad
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...speculation about a U.S. attack over its nuclear program, Iran's capture of 15 British sailors and marines on March 23 had the makings of a new Middle East crisis that could spin dangerously out of control. So, Tehran's decision to free the captives in what President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called a "gift to the British people" was a notable victory for Iranian pragmatists over hard-liners - one that could even build momentum within Tehran's power structure and in Western capitals for a diplomatic solution to the standoff over Iran's uranium-enrichment program...
...three months - and a third round of sanctions is anticipated if Iran does not freeze its uranium-enrichment program, which the U.S. fears could enable Tehran to produce a nuclear weapon. As Under Secretary of State R. Nicholas Burns told the Senate last week, "Despite the fulminations of President Ahmadinejad, Iran is not impervious to financial and diplomatic pressure...
...kept their heads amid rising domestic political pressure on both ends to act tough. In particular, the outcome is a significant boost for Iran's pragmatists led by Ali Larijani, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, and who is also Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator. Last year, Ahmadinejad's hard-line opposition had helped scuttle a deal Larijani was crafting in discussion with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana that involved a temporary suspension of Iran's enrichment program. In announcing the release of the Britons, Ahmadinejad signaled that the more radical faction of Iran's leadership...
That may provide an opportunity for the Bush Administration. Ahmadinejad's slide has convinced Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the strategy of ratcheting up economic pressure on the Tehran regime is producing results. The U.S. believes the squeeze on Iran has yielded more conciliatory signals from the Iranians on the nuclear issue. The chemistry between U.S. and Iranian diplomats at a March 10 conference about Iran's future in Baghdad suggests that those favoring a resolution may be seeing some opportunities. Both sides agreed the meeting was "constructive," and U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad termed the exchanges "frank and sometimes...
...bigger question may be whether the Bush Administration will ever accept Iran's motives as sincere. It's nearly impossible to imagine the U.S. striking a deal with an Iran led by an assertive Ahmadinejad, especially given his threats against Israel. And the U.S. insists it will not tolerate Iran's keeping any enrichment technologies on its soil. The emergence of pragmatic voices in Tehran, however, has made détente at least as plausible as a military confrontation. That the two sides have traveled even that far toward compromise is encouraging. But it's also a reminder...