Word: iran
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...believe him? Nope, me neither - but I am also not convinced that Iran intends to build a nuclear weapon. "I think they're hedging," says Jim Walsh of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a nonproliferation expert who speaks frequently with the Iranians. "I don't think they've made a weapon decision, but I do think they want breakout capability" - the ability, similar to Japan's, to quickly assemble a bomb if necessary. "If you actually build a bomb, you start incurring real international costs, as the North Koreans have," added Walsh, referring to the fact that the Russians...
...continue its attempts to engage the Iranians while preparing to contain and deter them if they actually try to build a bomb. It should not revert to the foolish bellicosity of the last Administration. And there is good news: Ahmadinejad assured us that he would not attempt to change Iran's constitution and run for a third term in 2013. That should come as some small relief to the mass of Iranians who yearn to breathe free...
President Barack Obama's strategy of engaging Iran finally got under way in earnest on Thursday with a positive response from Tehran to at least some of the concerns about its nuclear program. At a meeting in Geneva with officials from Western powers, Russia and China, Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili agreed to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect a hitherto secret uranium-enrichment facility under construction near Qum. President Obama and his allies expressed grave concern last week about the site after revelations of its existence, and they made the demand for its inspection...
Obama later called the talks a "constructive beginning" but insisted that Iran follow up with "constructive action" to prove its stated commitment to confine itself to peaceful nuclear development. "We're not interested in talking for the sake of talking," he said. "Pledges of cooperation must be fulfilled." (Read Tony Karon's previous analysis of the Geneva talks...
...Obama Administration had sought talks with Iran since taking office in January but had been rebuffed until now. Under growing pressure from Capitol Hill and allies in Europe and Israel to show results for his engagement strategy, Obama had warned Iran that failure to discuss international concerns over its nuclear program would be met with an escalation of sanctions. U.S. and European diplomats had taken great care to lower expectations for the Geneva meeting - the metric of success, they stressed, would be the tone of the meeting and Tehran's willingness to engage on the issues of most concern...