A Message for the US?

Roozonline:

The foreign policy planners of the future Iranian government under president Ahmadinejad held a “scientific” seminar two days ago in which they outlined the key directions of their nuclear policy. There, they indicated that they plan to by pass Europe, talk to the US and resume their nuclear activities.

The seminar, dubbed “Iran’s Nuclear Technology: Symbol of National Power”, which coincided with the end of president Khatami’s second presidential term and the announcement of resumption of uranium enrichment activities in Isfahan, included such foreign policy participants as Majles Speaker Haddad Adel, Javad Larijani – tipped to be the next Iranian Foreign Minister and in charge of the Iran-European nuclear talks, and Deputy Foreign Minister Hamid-Reza Asefi – who has just returned from nuclear talks with British officials and outlined the framework that is reported to have been approved by the Leader.

At the seminar held in Isfahan, noticeably close to the controversial nuclear facilities, Ahmadinejad’s foreign policy architects such as Haddad Adel, Larijani and Ahmad Tavakoli the head of Majlis (Iranian Parliament) research center and Mohammad Saeedi who is the deputy director of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization presented their viewpoints.

Larijani voiced the main message of the meeting: European countries do not count; nuclear defense is Iran’s prerogative, and; the Leader has banned the use of nuclear weapons.

Tavakoli said Iran considered itself a member of the club possessing the nuclear-cycle technology and like other members planned to start exporting nuclear fuel for reactors once domestic needs were met.

Adel in the inauguration speech announced that every nation that wished to survive needed to pay a price for its independence. “The Iranian nation through the last three decades has demonstrated its determination to maintain its independence and so will naturally press for the peaceful use of nuclear energy.”

Larijani had four criticisms regarding the Iran-European nuclear talks. First, the subject of discussion has shifted from nuclear weapons to nuclear energy. He said that the issue initially was nuclear weapons, but that now, the whole question of possessing nuclear energy by Iran is questioned. The second issue relates to Iran’s parties.

He made it clear that the original party to Iran’s talks was the UN, and not Europe. Calling the three European countries that have been negotiating the nuclear issues with Iran the most barbaric elements of a civilization, he said Iran would not sign an agreement with, although they could act as a lobby.

What Larijani meant is probably that the final agreement and Iran’s commitment would be to the world body and not to European participants.

He called the earlier agreement signed between Iran on one side and Britain, France and Germany on the other, a “mistake”, indicating Iran did not see itself bound by its terms and limitations.

Although he did say that nuclear weapons would bring more headaches than solutions to Iran, he said Iran should not rule them out against the country’s enemies, arguing that since Iran possesses nuclear facilities, it is only natural for it to also have a nuclear defense. READ MORE

Observers have interpreted Larijani’s attacks on the Europeans to be a signal of the willingness to engage the US on this issue, which is in tune with the general thinking of the new generation of conservatists in Tehran who believe it is easier to make a deal with the US neo-conservatists currently in power in Washington.

It has been said in some political quarters that the new Iranian leaders and policymakers have already passed on such messages - willingness to talk with the US - to the Americans.

This approach appears to fit in with unconfirmed reports that contrary to European drives to bring even Israel’s nuclear activities under international control, the US is exploring ways to increase nuclear activities in the Middle East. Such a policy, after specific guarantees to Tel Aviv, would provide the initiative in the Middle East again the US hands. Providing nuclear technology to Afghanistan and even Iraq are parts of the grand strategy debated in these quarters.

A high ranking Iranian diplomat has said, on condition of remaining anonymous, that the idea of involving the US has been debated in high Iranian policy making circles and while freeing Iran from European pressures on human rights, it will strengthen the US position in its confrontation with Iran, and reverse Iran’s key foreign policy principle vis-à-vis the US it has pursued over the past 16 years.

Larijani, who has been a vocal critic of Khatami’s foreign policy, also said that the new Iranian president has new opportunities ahead of him, denying the predictions that the country’s foreign policy would not alter. “Every time a new president takes office, countries around the world await his new initiatives.”

According to Sharg weblog covering the Isfahan seminar, Javad Larijani responded to a question by Asefi in these words: The Leader has banned the use of nuclear weapons. His order is our standard.”

It is unfortunate that mainstream media weren't present. Larijani's endorsement of nuclear weapons will likely go unnoticed .