Opinion | Columnists
Matter of compromise
For once, Iran faces a united international stance on its nuclear programme, with Russia wanting Tehran to sign the deal with UN
- By Roula Khalaf, Financial Times
- Published: 00:00 November 9, 2009
- Image Credit: Reuters
- Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (left) with IAEA director general Mohammad Al Baradei during a meeting in Tehran last month.
Yes in general but no on every detail, is how Iran responded to a United Nations-backed deal on its nuclear programme that world powers were hoping would buy them time to settle, more permanently, the whole dispute. [On Saturday, senior Iranian lawmakers rejected any possibility of Tehran shipping uranium abroad for further enrichment]. The Iranian attitude left Western powers fuming, and the US, which has been unusually patient, probably more disappointed than most.
But while Washington is a newcomer to negotiations with Iran, no one else was shocked. More surprising would have been a swift and outright positive reaction that would have had Tehran shipping, by the end of the year, about two-thirds of its low-enriched uranium for reprocessing to Russia and France, and in return, receiving fuel to create higher-grade medical isotopes for cancer treatment.
Earlier, there was some basis for optimism. Iran had accepted the deal "in principle". But at the time, Iran was in a bind, having been forced to reveal that it had been building a second uranium enrichment plant in violation of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) rules.
By co-operating, Tehran had changed the subject, steering the talks away from the new plant and UN demands for a total suspension of enrichment activities and instead towards a fuel deal.
Since then, Iran had every interest in trying to prolong the negotiations. At the same time, voices in parliament quickly rose against the deal and they included that of Ali Larijani, the speaker and rival to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President.
This attitude may have been a reflection of what Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, wanted to hear. But it could also be an attempt to undermine the beleaguered Ahmadinejad.
There are other factors, too. Iran's rulers are suspicious about the West. Though they court Russian support, they are suspicious of Moscow as much as France, the two countries that were supposed to provide them with the new fuel.
For Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, meanwhile, rushing into a UN-drafted deal would have been a step towards engagement with the Obama administration, something which many say he is neither interested in nor ready for.
Whatever Iran's reasoning, however, it risks overplaying its hand dangerously. For once, it faces a united international front, with Russia backing the UN deal enthusiastically and asking Tehran to sign it. Washington has been remarkably tolerant, but its patience will end.
The simple fact that Iran's rulers often forget is that negotiations are based on compromise — not on imposing Iranian demands.
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