Surprise! Iran Drags Its Feet on Nuke Negotiations
It's funny, despite what Annan implied the Iranians sure don't seem eager to resolve Europe's concerns over their budding WMD program:
European Union's foreign policy chief and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator on Wednesday abruptly postponed a planned meeting less then a day before they were to hold talks on easing tension over Tehran's refusal to stop enriching uranium. Cristina Gallach, the spokeswoman for EU top foreign policy official Javier Solana, did not say what prompted the decision to downgrade Thursday's talks in Paris to the level of aides to Solana and Ali Larijani, Iran's senior nuclear negotiator. But the decision of the two principals to stay away suggested snags needed to be untangled before they considered resuming direct contacts.
For instance, the Iranians feel that it would really help ease tensions if the Europeans could just come to grips with Iran's desire to get nuclear weapons and use them to wipe out millions of Jews. Negotiations don't have to end up with Iran earning the concession, but at a minimum Iranian diplomats seem to think that it should be on the table.
European Union's foreign policy chief and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator on Wednesday abruptly postponed a planned meeting less then a day before they were to hold talks on easing tension over Tehran's refusal to stop enriching uranium. Cristina Gallach, the spokeswoman for EU top foreign policy official Javier Solana, did not say what prompted the decision to downgrade Thursday's talks in Paris to the level of aides to Solana and Ali Larijani, Iran's senior nuclear negotiator. But the decision of the two principals to stay away suggested snags needed to be untangled before they considered resuming direct contacts.
For instance, the Iranians feel that it would really help ease tensions if the Europeans could just come to grips with Iran's desire to get nuclear weapons and use them to wipe out millions of Jews. Negotiations don't have to end up with Iran earning the concession, but at a minimum Iranian diplomats seem to think that it should be on the table.
