August 8, 2005

The Iran - Russia nuclear pact

By Douglas Hanson
Iran has rejected  an EU proposal offered on August 6th, a proposed pact that the US and the West hoped would at least place some controls on the mullahs' bid to develop special nuclear material (SNM).  The deal essentially provided E—3 (France, Germany, and Great Britain) support to Iran's nuclear energy program, while Iran would refrain from either enriching uranium or extracting plutonium from spent nuclear reactor fuel. Speaking on the deal, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said that the Iranian government would send its official rejection late this past Saturday or Sunday.  Asefi said, "The European proposals are unacceptable ... the package is against the spirit of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and against the provisions of the Paris agreement," he said on state radio. "The proposals do not meet Iran's minimum expectations." At face value, it would seem that another episode of EU—Iran Keystone Cops has come to a...(Read Full Article)