Word: nuclearization
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...should come as no surprise that Iran wants to shunt France out of a deal to enrich its nuclear fuel abroad. Dividing its enemies and isolating the more hawkish among them has been a hallmark of Tehran's diplomacy, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy routinely plays the tough cop with Iran, threatening and goading its leaders and urging U.S. President Barack Obama to take a tougher line. On Tuesday, Iran struck back with a humiliating slap-down, insisting that France butt out of the deal because Tehran could not trust the nation to honor its commitments. Iranian diplomats even delayed...
...Since his election in May 2007, the French President has taken positions on Iran worthy of the most hawkish members of the Bush Administration. In July 2007, he warned that the world would have to force Tehran to abandon its nuclear program, or face a "catastrophic alternative: the Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran." And that was just his warm-up. (See the top 10 players in Iran's power struggle...
...Last month, while attending the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, Sarkozy appeared to mock Obama's more temperate and generalized remarks on nuclear proliferation. Nostrils flaring, Sarkozy responded to the U.S. President's remarks by calling Iran's nuclear program the leading threat to international security, which three years of U.N. efforts had not diminished. "What are we going to do about it?" Sarkozy petulantly asked his American counterpart...
...defiance for a domestic audience, while at the same time keep lines of dialogue open with the U.S. And Tuesday's diplomatic slap was more symbolic than substantial. After all, France remains a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, which gives it a seat at the main nuclear talks with Iran. (Those talks began in Geneva on Oct. 1; the Vienna session was a technical meeting on the terms of a processing deal.) Iran isn't refusing to negotiate with France in the room but simply declining to accept it as a supplier of processed uranium...
...Vienna talks ended inconclusively, and a further session is reportedly scheduled. But they served as a reminder that the search for a diplomatic solution to the Iran nuclear standoff will be protracted and perilous, and their outcome will probably be less than what the Western powers had hoped for. Even then, it may be the only game in town...