Gulf Nations Propose Iran Nuclear Standoff Compromise

The six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council have proposed providing enriched uranium to Iran through a consortium to resolve Tehran’s tensions with the West over its nuclear program, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 1).

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said the proposal would allow Iran to pursue peaceful nuclear power production while defusing international suspicions that it aims to develop nuclear weapons.

“We have proposed a solution, which is to create a consortium for all users of enriched uranium in the Middle East,” Middle East Economic Digest quoted al-Faisal as saying.

Under the proposal, the multinational consortium developed by the council would establish a uranium enrichment plant outside the region to produce nuclear fuel that Middle Eastern countries could use to pursue atomic energy programs.

“(We will) do it in a collective manner through a consortium that will distribute according to needs, give each plant its own necessary amount, and ensure no use of this enriched uranium for atomic weapons,” al-Faisal said.

He said the enrichment facility “should be in a neutral country — Switzerland, for instance.”

The Gulf Cooperation Council members — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — have expressed interest in civilian nuclear projects, as have Egypt, Jordan and other Middle Eastern nations.

“Any plant in the Middle East that needs enriched uranium would get its quota.  I don't think other Arab states would refuse.  In fact, since the decision of the GCC to enter into this industry, the other Arab countries have expressed a desire to be part of the proposal.”

The offer is under consideration in Tehran, al-Faisal said.

“The U.S. is not involved, but I don't think it (would be) hostile to this, and it would resolve a main area of tension between the West and Iran” (Agence France-Presse I/Google News, Nov. 1).

In the first apparent open accusation an Arab nation has leveled against Iran over its nuclear ambitions Bahrain said today that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, AFP reported.

“While they don't have the bomb yet, they are developing it, or the capability for it,” crown prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa told the London Times, adding that “the whole region” would be drawn into any military conflict against Iran.

"There needs to be far more done on the diplomatic front," he said.  “There’s still time to talk.”

“We need to be very well aware that this could escalate.  And we think that is not advisable,” he told the London Telegraph (Agence France-Presse II/Google News, Nov. 2).

Meanwhile, the United States today urged the four other permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany to impose a new round of sanctions on Iran if it does not halt its uranium enrichment program, the London Guardian reported.  Officials from the six nations met in London.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Berlin would back a new Security Council resolution if Iran does not disclose requested details about its nuclear activities to the U.N. nuclear watchdog by a December deadline.

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president of Iran, criticized the U.S. push for new sanctions and argued that Iran has been cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“The U.S. is making mistakes,” he said.  “Iran is having talks, and has said it will respond to IAEA questions.  They are gradually coming and taking their response.  One has to wait, talk and make discussions” (Claire Truscott, London Guardian, Nov. 2).

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today that the United States is attempting to address “tactical differences” over Iran that have prevented Russia and China from backing new sanctions, Reuters reported.

“The Russians — when I talked to (Foreign Minister) Sergei Lavrov yesterday — he said they were prepared to come and work on the text as we agreed when we were together last and we will just have to see how those discussions go,” Rice said (Sophie Walker, Reuters, Nov. 2).

After a meeting with IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei yesterday, U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns contested an assertion by Iran’s president that Iran is invulnerable to additional penalties, the Associated Press reported.

According to several U.S. officials, the Bush administration has been concerned that Iran’s pledge to disclose information on its nuclear activity would undermine the Security Council’s resolve to impose new sanctions.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other Iranian officials have said that the Security Council’s dispute with Iran would be “closed” if Tehran fulfills its obligation to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“President Ahmadinejad … said in September the Security Council case is closed,” Burns told reporters.  “I am sorry to tell him it's not closed.”

Burns said ElBaradei agreed with him that “it's important that Iran finally tell the truth about its activities in the past … but we also agreed that all of us … support going ahead with a third Security Council sanctions resolution should Iran not suspend” (George Jahn, Associated Press I/PR-inside.com, Nov. 1).

Late yesterday, IAEA safeguards chief Olli Heinonen closed four days of discussions with Iranian officials over Iran’s use of P-1 centrifuges and its development of higher-speed P-2 centrifuges.  The discussions were part of the “work plan” Iran agreed to pursue with IAEA officials in August.

“The IAEA delegation and Iran voiced satisfaction on the trend of talks on issues over P-1 and P-2,” deputy supreme national security council head Javad Vaidi told Iranian state media.

“In these negotiations Mr. Heinonen and the other experts presented all the questions and ambiguities they had.  The Iranian side gave all the answers to address their questions,” he said (Agence France-Presse III/Google News, Nov. 1).

In Washington, U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is expected to put forward a Senate resolution today stating that President George W. Bush lacks authority to take military action against Iran, AP reported.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said the senator would formally introduce the measure today to “nullify the vote the Senate took to give the president the benefit of the doubt on Iran.”  He was referring to a Sept. 26 vote that labeled the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity.

Obama’s rival, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), supported that measure.  In a letter yesterday to Bush, Clinton and 29 other senators said the president has not obtained congressional authority to go to war with Iran (Nedra Pickler, Associated Press II/International Herald Tribune, Nov. 2).

Back to top
About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines © Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.