Dead-End In EU’s "Soft Power" Approach With Tehran
By The US Alliance for Democratic Iran (05/06/05)
The nuclear talks between Iran and European Union have come - not surprisingly - to a dead-end. The clerical regime never intended of abandoning its nuclear drive when it entered the talks. Faced with the failure of its “soft power approach” in dealing with a rogue theocracy, the EU is now turning to the United States to sweeten its incentive package to further appease tyrants ruling Iran. It is time for the EU’s Big 3 to put an end to this diplomatic charade.
In the tradition of European diplomacy, the futility of the long-going nuclear talks with Tehran is disguised in fancy, albeit, ambiguous phrases such as “soft power”. Meanwhile Tehran has been very frank and, for that matter, brazen, in its official positions.
With a great stake in securing lucrative commerce with Iran, the EU is hard at work to come up with an excuse to prolong the talks. There are even reports of France – long turned into a “cradle of appeasement” of Tehran - breaking away with the rest of the EU to accept an Iranian proposal to retain a small pilot enrichment plant.
Last Friday, a British Foreign Office spokesman told reporters, "The informal talks have concluded. No conclusions were reached and both sides, the EU Three and Iran, have agreed to go away and reflect on what was discussed and to continue the discussions in future."
The next day, Hassan Rowhani, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, told reporters that Iran might resume uranium enrichment-related work this week.
One day of reflection on a meaningless talk did wonders.
Running out of excuses to prolong the talks, the EU now is balloon testing the idea of waiting until after the June 17 presidential elections in Iran. "We don't want to break things up now and have a row. We want to continue the negotiating process after the Iranian election," a European diplomat told the Associated Press last Friday.
Two days later, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollahs Ali Khamenei came back with a sharp and stinging response, totally rejecting the notion that after June elections Iran would consider making a deal with the European Union to abandon its nuclear program.
“The spokespersons of the arrogant power say they are waiting for Iran’s elections to be carried out and then they will decide on the issue of peaceful nuclear energy in Iran. But what have Iran’s elections got to do with you?” Khamenei retorted.
Clearly, Tehran is after extracting maximum incentives from the EU and Washington and prolonging the nuclear talks but not at the expense of disrupting its secret nuclear program.
The mullahs will never abandon their nuclear weapons drive. Why? Because possessing nuclear weapons capability is a strategic constant in the mullahs’ calculus of survival. In tandem with other components such as sponsorship of terrorism, export of fundamentalism abroad, and continued crackdown on political dissent at home, it serves to shield the regime from increasing political vulnerability at home.
Furthermore, Iran seeks to gain strategic leverage in the region and beyond. When the most active state sponsor of terrorism joins the nuclear club, international terrorism wins. What is more, a nuclear-armed Iran would plunge the EU even deeper in the quagmire of appeasement.
The two years already wasted over fruitless negotiations with Tehran have only brought the world closer to the specter of a nuclear-armed terrorist regime in Iran.
Thank-you EU. Your “soft power” approach is working just fine.
Nearly two months has passed since the United States, under intense pressure by the EU and the Europeanists of the American foreign policy establishment, agreed to include two economic incentives for Tehran. Not surprisingly, they only served to embolden Tehran in its campaign of deception and denial.
With the mullahs remaining defiant, the EU must live up to the pledge it made to Washington to join the U.S. in referring Iran’s case to the U.N. Security Council.
Washington meanwhile must resist intense diplomatic lobbying by the EU to push back the deadline for the talks from June to the autumn. This charade has lasted far too long to have any positive impact.
The US Alliance for Democratic Iran (www.usadiran.org), is a US-based, independent, non-profit policy advocacy organization, which aims to advance a US policy in support of Iranian people’s aspirations for a democratic, secular, and peaceful government. The USADI is not affiliated with any government agencies, political groups or parties.
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