Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday urged Iran to back up its declaration that Islam bars weapons of mass destruction by agreeing to a plan that would prove it does not intend to develop nuclear arms.
Ahead of international talks April 13 in Istanbul on Iran’s uranium enrichment program, Clinton talked strategy with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who visited Tehran last week with other government officials.
“They were told that the supreme leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] viewed weapons of mass destruction as religiously prohibited, as against Islam,” Clinton said at a news conference.
“We are meeting with the Iranians to discuss how to translate what is a stated belief into a plan of action,” she said. “It is not an abstract belief, but a government policy. That government policy can be demonstrated in a number of ways. … The international community now wants to see actions associated with that statement of belief.”
She mentioned opening Iran’s nuclear facilities to international inspectors and shipping out some of Iran’s enriched uranium in exchange for fuel for its research reactor.
Washington and its allies see Iran’s nuclear program as designed to develop an atomic bomb. Tehran says the program is for peaceful energy and research purposes.
The upcoming talks, which Clinton said would not be “an open-ended session,” have taken on fresh urgency amid speculation that Israel or the U.S. could take military action later this year. Clinton has made clear that time is running out for diplomacy.
Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters, issued a religious decree in 2005 declaring nuclear weapons as “haram” or forbidden. The United States and its allies discount Iran’s claims.
Clinton noted that the Turkish leaders had “lengthy discussions” with Iranian officials. But the U.S. and Turkey, a NATO ally, haven’t seen eye to eye on the Iranian threat.
Erdogan has built close economic ties with Iran and has tried to act as a go-between on the nuclear program, breaking ranks with world powers in 2010 by attempting to find a separate settlement with Tehran. The international talks have included the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China.
Erdogan’s comments upon returning from Tehran suggested further distancing from U.S. and European positions, repeating Khamenei’s verdict on weapons of mass destruction.
“After such a statement from such a person, I cannot claim that Iran is building a nuclear weapon,” the Turkish leader said. “Does it not have the right to implement a nuclear program for peaceful means?”
{Politico/Matzav.com Newscenter}
peacefull means, means peacefull existence of Palestinians with their neighbors. Israel is not in the equation, because in order to achieve this Muslim so called peace Israel has to be annihilated. Anybody believing this so called religious leaders bluff, has to seriously have his head checked.
And well of course the Iranians will allow for inspector to come in. As soon as the evidence is cleared, that’s why they always demand to choose the dates.
There’s so much bluff here, that’s been going on for years. That it trully is sickening.
Secretary of State Clinton may be painting herself into a corner. Let me explain. Ayatollah Khameneis role should not be underestimated, but the Iranian leadership decisions may be more shared than commonly believed. The whole issue of Parchin, the IAEA/P5+1 talks and continued trust building relates to what the long term vision and plan is for Iran and the other nations regarding the nuclear issue. Will the Iranians submit to falling under the existing Israeli/Western nuclear umbrella whilst giving up the goal of attaining weapons and still pursuing nuclear power ? (Thus they will have to bow down to some form of geo-political paternalism based on an implied trust of the regional superpower in the region, i.e. Israel who is the only nation with nuclear weapons. I dont think the Persians will accept this scenario.) If they are not willing to submit in this manner and want to create a different structure they then will continue with their own enrichment program with the goal of attaining increased regional power and hegemony. This second route will prove problematic as proliferation of nuclear weapons will ensue. It will thus be a case of one day all the parties needing to decide on how to get rid of their weapons or else if a regional war breaks out, mutual destruction on a cataclysmic scale will be assured.
So the circuit breaker and Gordian Knot cutter is for a reconvened NPT Conference to be held in Jerusalem in 2012. The main agenda will be the elimination of nuclear weapons globally by 2025. This overarching vision will provide the framework/track/matrix for all the other international trust building moves that will need to be made over the ensuing thirteen years.
The way to stop the war talk momentum dead in its tracks right now is to at least get agreement from the parties to attend the conference. The logistics and exact details can then be worked out. Spring is coming to the Northern Hemisphere and the London Olympic Games commences in late July, so there is the possibility for improved international goodwill to develop. An agreement by the special guests of Israel and Iran to attend would be the catalyst for other nations to turn up. A marriage of the nations was prophesied. Shidduch needed perhaps ?