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U.S. Expects Iran to Reject U.N. Demands
U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said yesterday that he expects Iran to reject a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding it freeze sensitive nuclear activities by the end of the month, and that Washington would push for sanctions immediately after that deadline, the Los Angeles Times reported (see GSN, Aug. 17). “We would want to move very quickly,” Burns said. “[Sanctions] will be well deserved.” Burns said the war between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon had revealed Iran’s regional ambitions. “I think there is greater concern now about the role of Iran in the Middle East than there had been before,” he said. “A lot of people believe Iran wishes to be the dominant power in the region, which is one reason, perhaps, it is seeking the nuclear weapon capability.” Burns said he did not believe Tehran would accept the world powers’ incentives offer aimed at curbing its nuclear program. “If you look at what [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad has said over the last couple of weeks, I assume that they intend to continue with their [uranium] enrichment program,” he said. Burns said he believed all five permanent Security Council members would support imposing sanctions if Iran defied the resolution. “We have an agreement with Russia and China and with the other members of the council that we will go to … sanctions,” he said (Peter Spiegel, Los Angeles Times, Aug. 18). A group of retired U.S. military officials and diplomats yesterday called on Washington to negotiate with Tehran, the Associated Press reported. “A strategy of diplomatic engagement with Iran will serve the interests of the U.S. and its allies, and would enhance regional and international security,” the 22 former officials said in an open letter. “An attack on Iran would have disastrous consequences for security in the region and U.S. forces in Iraq, and it would inflame hatred and violence in the Middle East and among Muslims everywhere,” the letter says. Retired Lt. Gen. Robert Gard, one of the signatories, questioned the administration’s conditional approach to any possible talks with Tehran. “If Ronald Reagan was willing to negotiate with the evil empire, one wonders why President Bush won’t negotiate with the axis of evil,” Gard said (George Gedda, Associated Press/The Hindu, Aug. 17). Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani called on the United States today to allow Iran and Europe to diffuse the nuclear dispute diplomatically, the Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported. “I hope that also the Americans will let this regional and global problem being suitably settled through negotiations,” he said (Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Aug. 18).
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