Race for Iran: ZERO ENRICHMENT IN IRAN—OR NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST?
Later this week, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors will meet in Vienna, with Iran’s nuclear program at the top of the agenda. Of course, the Board will discuss the IAEA’s recent inspections of Iran’s newly declared enrichment facility near Qom, as well as the Iranian response to outgoing director general Mohammed ElBaradei’s proposal for refueling the Tehran Research Reactor. But, as has been the case since 2006, discussions of Iranian matters in Vienna will take place under the cloud of three United Nations Security Council resolutions calling on the Islamic Republic to stop all activities related to uranium enrichment. In retrospect, the Board’s decision to refer the Iranian file to the Security Council has hardly facilitated a negotiated solution to the issue; rather, referral to the Security Council—and the Council’s subsequent insistence on suspension—has made it more difficult to reach a solution through thoughtful diplomacy...
