Another Round of EU-Iran Talks Starts April 10 - Will Iran Be Referred To The UN Security Council?

Iran's objection to ratifying the International Atomic Energy Agency's Additional Protocol of the IAEA is said to be the main obstacle to dispelling fears that it is not building a nuclear weapon. Iranian and EU officials meet April 10 to try to resolve a stalemate in their negotiations over this issue. If they fail, the EU will likely support the US and refer the case to the UN Security Council.

At the moment, Iran is unwilling to ratify the Additional Protocol because of agreement between the EU and the US on its interpretation; none of the two settle for anything less than that inspectors see Iran destroy a wide arsenal of nuclear fuel-cycle capabilities that it has been building on and off since the Shah was driven out in 1979. It would also have to abandon all its projects to enrichment, reprocess and convert uranium as well as its heavy-water production.

One option that Iran might be willing to buy into -even if only partially- would be to compensate Iran for giving up the right to produce reactor fuel. Under this construction, major nuclear suppliers including Russia, the United States, and certain European countries would provide a binding guarantee for Iran to receive fuel-cycle services-the supply of fresh reactor fuel as well as retrieval and storage of spent fuel-on a commercial basis for any nuclear power reactors that it builds as long as it meets its commitments.

This option is disfavored by the US, which wants Iran to cease all nuclear operations full stop. Earlier negotiations between Europe and Iran stalled. The EU countries conducting them indicated that they might support the U.S. intention to hand the issue over to the UN Security Council. This means that military force is not excluded if Tehran does not accept the demand to make its current nuclear halt permanent.

Observers say that the best hopes to avoid this during the negotiations starting 10 April will be a focus on strengthening rather than discarding the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to which Iran is a signatory. This is very much in line with traditional 'soft' EU foreign policy. Some observers fear that the US cooperation with the EU on the issue means that the EU is alienated from its earlier standpoint.

The Additional Protocol allows for intrusive inspections by the IAEA on a no-notice basis. Iran no doubt will argue here that this means reconfirming and beginning implementation of the obligations the NPT imposes on nuclear weapons states such as the U.S., Britain, France, China and Russia to move towards full nuclear disarmament.

Angelique van Engelen is a freelance writer. She has lived for over three years in the Middle East. She runs http://www.contentclix.com and also contributes to a weblog http://clixyPlays.blogspot.com. She can be emailed via angeliqueve@contentclix.com

---

We Are Turning a Corner in Foreign Relations, Thanks GW Bush!

Kudos goes out to the George Walker Bush's Administration and... Read More

French NON to Europe Might be Engrained in Their History

Many of the problems that the members of the European... Read More

Make Plastic Out of Corn

Here is an interesting thought; Corn to make Plastic An... Read More

Mother Russia and Poland

When Boris Yeltsin spoke about an experiment that 'they' wrought... Read More

Federal Trade Commission Franchising Division; Inept?

Why are we over regulating the franchising industry? What are... Read More

Common Sense vs. Common Senseless - How Thomas Paine Can Be Applied To Modern Day; Part Two

The cause of America is in a great measure the... Read More

Secret Clandestine Facial Recognition Countermeasures and The Future of the CIA

Presently Universities and Private Enterprise are working to build more... Read More

Affirmative Inaction

One of Abraham Lincoln's claims to fame is the fact... Read More

Jobs and the Flow of Fuel

We see today a fierce unspoken competition between trucks and... Read More

Iranian Elections - Roadmap To Continued Apathy

The recent first round of the Iranian elections somewhat resembled... Read More

A Need to Review Abortion Laws In Belgium

INTRODUCTIONThe aim of writing this article is to encourage the... Read More

Richard Nixon, the truth

Richard Nixon was by far a most fascinating and colorful... Read More

Is Reinstating The Draft Such a Bad Idea?

In his bid for the presidency, John Kerry pronounced a... Read More

WiMax Election Strategy

So you are ready to run for public office are... Read More

Dont Trade Rights for Security

"Those who sacrifice essential liberty for temporary safety are not... Read More

The New Goo Review is Coming Right At You

Non-lethal Goo Concepts have been tossed around by many war... Read More

Philosophical Thoughts from a Road Warrior; Part II

Continued thoughts while driving down the road in a huge... Read More

Justice Department Losing the War on Street Gangs

The Justice Department is at it again; promoting themselves in... Read More

Government Backed Fraud in Academia

Contrary to the Hobbesian prediction of anarchy (freedom) and brutish... Read More

Anti Government, Pro Democracy

Many Americans feel betrayed by their government, our government. I... Read More

TABOR: The Growing Taxpayer Bill of Rights Movement and Economic Incentives for Industry

A governing.com report blast one of the major grassroots initiatives... Read More

Let us Disband The FTC?s Franchising Division

Previously Senator Dick Armey and his staff in 2000 to... Read More

End Of History? Not Quite

A visitor to Moscow would be immediately struck by the... Read More

Enlightenment Experiments

Pierre Dupont de Nemours:After arranging the Armistice that ended or... Read More

Image is Everything in Redevelopment Projects

Revitalization Downtown projects are all the rage in fact the... Read More

End Time Clock Ticking Away?

Earlier this month, I heard President George W. Bush and... Read More

A Trade War is brewing; Are We Paying Attention

Incompetence is all too obvious at the trade shows of... Read More

The Truth About Power and Absolute Zero

Societies have always had a problem of what to do... Read More

Voting Pro-Environment is Good For Jobs, Health, and Security

There are many issues on the minds of US voters... Read More

Shooting Around Corners with New Concept

Currently the United States has weapons, which can shoot around... Read More

Adminstration of E-Business Taxation

The entry by telephone and cable companies into the Internet... Read More

William Seward and the Alaska Purchase

Aren't you glad you purchased Alaska? You got a bargain,... Read More

Plastics In Our Nations Dumps and Landfills

Long Term Environmental Effect of Plastics, Composites and Other Materials... Read More