With Iran, the Devil’s in the Nuance- Not the Details

The dialogue is beginning to sound like a wary buyer and a used car salesman. President Obama demanded talks with Iran without pre-conditions. He got it. He demanded inspection of the Qom facility in two weeks. He appears to be getting that too. They offered to meet again in late October- another olive branch? And without any provocation, Iran mentioned they might throw in shipping low-grade enriched Uranium to Russia or France for processing- at no extra cost…. Of course 24 hours later they clarified their offer, and said it hasn’t been discussed yet- meaning it was what, a trial balloon?

Are they telling us what we want to hear to keep us on the lot, while they buy time to negotiate the best deal they can? Sure they are. They’ll say just about anything to prevent new trade sanctions from being imposed- especially if Russia and China should join in. The country has suffered from sanctions much more than they will ever admit. Having Russia or China join in would be far too painful to endure- the medical equivalent of back-to-back root canals.

The overtures from Iran were a pleasant surprise and unexpected- a departure from their steady anti-western rhetoric. However, it’s too early for victory laps. We should view any concessions they offer with suspicion until we’ve actually driven the car off the lot, and we are sure we have what we went after- the cork securely jammed back in the bottle that holds atomic bombs.

Here are some good articles on the subject:

Common Dreams Article

NY Times Article