Iran Offers to Suspend Uranium Enrichment

[meganmonkey]

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1695870

By GEORGE JAHN

VIENNA, Austria Mar 7, 2006 (AP)— Iran is offering to suspend full-scale uranium enrichment for up to two years, a diplomat said Tuesday. The proposal reflected Tehran's attempts to escape U.N. Security Council action over the activity, which can be used to make nuclear arms.

The diplomat told The Associated Press the offer was made Friday by chief Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani in Moscow in the context of contacts between Iran and Russia on moving Tehran's enrichment program to Russia. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was confidential.

---snip---

Moscow has become the sole negotiating partner of the Iranians in recent months. Diplomats familiar with those talks said Moscow was insisting on a full enrichment freeze of up to eight years, including small-scale activity.

In exchange, Russian negotiators promised to float a post-suspension resumption of limited work with centrifuges and other components of an enrichment program in talks with senior U.S. and European officials.

But strong U.S. opposition appeared close to sinking that Russian initiative.

more at link....

[wakeme2008]

1. Sounds fair to me..

Iran gives it up for two years WHILE Russia starts doing it and providing the final product to Iran.

[Dhalgren]

4. I wish that Russia, the EU, China, and Iran would just come to an

agreement that satisfies all of them and leave the US out of it. The US is currently unable to participate in any reasonable international negotiations and should be shunned until it recovers its senses (if it ever does). If the rest of the powers in the world would just tell the US to STFU! everyone would be so much better off.

The object is not to punish Iran or crush them or humble them or whatever the fuck it is that the Naked Nazi wants; the idea is to arrive at a mutually acceptable outcome that allows everyone to proceed with their lives in peace. This is possible if the Insane States of America will just butt-out!

[anotherdrew]

8. 100% agree - that is exactly what needs to happen

and I suspect probably will happen.

[Miss Chybil]

21. I think you're right. Plus their offer for a two year halt will put the

issue off the table until we are rid of this incompetent administration.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. It won't go anywhere...

as usual the idiot chimp will 'refuse to negotiate' and bomb the hell out of them. :(

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Agreed. Iran could completely cave to the demands of this regime and

* would bomb'em to hell anyway.

[truth2power]

24. Correct. War with Iran is a done deal. It's not about

nuclear weapons production.

[Poll_Blind]

5. How dare they! n/t

PB

[Roland99]

6. Sorta takes the wind out of Bolton's bloviating, eh?

[meganmonkey]

7. You'd think it would

but it won't. Doesn't matter if Iran complies with every demand we make 10 times over. As with Iraq, this is not about weapons or dictators - if it were there are other countries we would be threatening right now. This is about the neo-con agenda, and I fear they are going to push it as far as they can over the next couple of years :(

[EuroObserver]

12. Cheney to the rescue

IRAN FACES "MEANINGFUL CONSEQUENCES" http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2150305

(Presumes to speak in the name of "the international community", furthermore).

[Roland99]

14. And this one, too >>>>

ussia-Iran plan 'blocked by U.S.'
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/03/07/iran.nuclear.1246/

[EuroObserver]

18. Now Reuters: "Russia denies Iran atom offer"

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-03-07T195721Z_01_RON537891_RTRUKOC_0_UK-NUCLEAR-IRAN.xml

Tue Mar 7, 2006 7:57 PM GMT VIENNA (Reuters) - Russia on Tuesday backed away from what EU diplomats said was a proposal to let Iran do some atomic research if it agreed to refrain from enriching uranium on an industrial scale for 7-9 years.

Russia abandoned the informal proposal, aimed at finding a compromise to the crisis over Iran's nuclear programme, after Western rejection of the idea.

The United States and the European Union want Iran to shelve all work to enrich uranium because of suspicions that Tehran is secretly trying to make nuclear weapons.

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said on Tuesday that Iran would be stopped from getting atomic bombs and faced "meaningful consequences" if it persists in defying calls to stop nuclear work which could lead to weapons.

In defying calls to halt all enrichment-related work, Iran seems to be counting on divisions in the U.N. Security Council over whether to resort to sanctions mooted by the United States.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied after talks with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that he had made a new proposal to defuse a crisis over Iran's nuclear aspirations that the Security Council may soon tackle.

"There is no compromise new proposal," Lavrov said at a news conference with Rice, who added: "The Russians did not tell us of any new proposal ..."
...

"The Russians explored this idea with us," said a diplomat, who asked not to be identified, from one of the three EU states - Germany, France and Britain - working on the Iran issue, the so-called EU3.

The diplomat said when Lavrov "realised the EU3 and U.S. would not accept its elements, he decided to deny it to save face".

...more...

[Roland99]

19. "Lavrov said at a news conference with Rice"....well now....

Isn't that special??


:mad:

[Amonester]

9. Fitz! Where the hell are ya?

Any news conference announced yet?

(Re: Cheney = Conspired to commit, and commited, treason.)

Otherwise, no matter what happens (Saddam "offered" to negotiate too) the PNAC Lie$ "Machine" is ON (again), no matter what they say (or do).

[superconnected]

10. Didn't they read the Downing street memos?

We're invading wether or not they have WMD's.

I applaud them for pissing the Bush Crime family off though. It will now take millions more in fear propaganda to convince Americans how dangerous Iran is.

[HuffleClaw]

11. it won't matter what they do

just like it didn't matter what saddam did prior to the iraq invasion, bushco. WILL have their war. they'll simply produce some 'evidence' of iranian shenanigans now and then, to build up a war fervor in the us. expect some atrocity stories and such, it should be a real show with fox news having exclusive rights to the juicy parts.

[murray hill farm]

13. Absolutely!

there is nothing that the usa demands of them that will satisfy the usa because the demands are not about satisfaction of the demands, it is about world domination by the usa. Bush wants Iran to agree to this domination..and nothing else will do. And a week ago, bush signs an agreement with India...to allow them to develop all the nuclear power that can be had...and with the help and sharing of info by the usa. There was a message there to Iran and the world...and it is that the USA will dominate...that they will demand the final word on which country can and which country cannot develop nuclear energy. World Domination is what it is about.

[mom cat]

15. Too true. I hope that the US does not start another war and that if it

tries, that we all hit the streets and stay there.

[MisterP]

25. like the Onion article, "Bush has stated that any Iraqi attempt to comply

with American demands will be regarded as an act of war."

[daleo]

16. I think Bush will refuse to take yes for an answer

Just like before the Iraq invasion.

[progressivebydesign]

17. I don't get it.. WHY can INDIA have them? but not Iran??

Who does America think they are telling people who can have nuclear programs, when we have one. India hasn't signed the proliferation treaty.. but we give them Nuke technology...

[meganmonkey]

20. Not only do we have one, but we engage in activities

that violate the NPT - like the one you mentioned, dealing nukes with India, as well as a new nuclear program we are embarking on here to replace our current arsenal.

H.Y.P.O.C.R.I.T.E.S!!!!

:nuke:

[Earth_First]

22. 3...2...1...SPIN IT!

[RazzleDazzle]

23. I hope they noticed that nothing Sadam did changed anything

and that the Bush Administration did what they damn well pleased anyway, which was to attack and invade Iraq. Saddam was in the worst no-win situation I've ever seen in my life. And you KNOW things are bad when you begin, as I did, to have just an itsy bitsy bit of sympathy for a brutal dictator. Were I under the delusion that Iraq and Iraqis would be better off without him with Bush at the helm here, it wouldn't have been so tempting, but I knew better back then as did most DUers.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

26. They (Iran) can make as...

...many conciliatory gestures as they wants (Iraq made many if you'll recall), King George wants them bombed with a follow up invasion and that's just what he's gonna order. The pretext is being laid, the attack is a foregone conclusion.

[tuvor]

27. Acquiescing didn't help Iraq.

Invasion's a done deal. We're just not privy to when.