Financial Times: US may cede to Iran's enrichment plan
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, April 4, IRNA - US officials are considering whether to accept Iran’s pursuit of uranium enrichment and may cede to “Iran’s nuclear ambitions”, Financial Times reports.
“As part of a policy review commissioned by President Barack Obama, diplomats are discussing whether the US will eventually have to accept Iran’s insistence on carrying out the process, which can produce both nuclear fuel and weapons-grade material.”
The London-based newspaper quoted Mark Fitzpatrick, a former US diplomat, as saying that “there’s a fundamental impasse between the western demand for no enrichment and the Iranian demand to continue enrichment.”
Financial Times reported that there is a growing recognition in Washington that the zero enrichment solution is “unfeasible” and that the US may still have zero as its opening position, while recognising it may not be where things stand at the end of a potential agreement.
Fitzpatrick said “obviously, no country wants to flag its fallback positions in advance. As soon as you let your fallback position be known, it becomes the new position.”
On Friday, Obama summarised the US message to Iran as, “Don’t develop a nuclear weapon” – a form of words, Financial Times predicts, would not rule out a deal accepting Iranian enrichment.
Earlier Fitzpatrick told IRNA there is great ground for improvement of ties between Iran and the United States who share “objectives” that have a “strong degree of similarity”.
“The message that President Obama sent on Norouz was really an extraordinary message for reconciliation. The tone and content of the message were very powerful in demonstrating that America seeks friendship and peace with both the people and government of Iran.”.
Fitzpatrick said when a new US president comes to power, there is a period of policy review before changes are made.
“And this policy review does not happen overnight. Many of the key players have not been designated yet even though Denis Ross and Richard Holbrook have been appointed. There are many others awaiting the Senate approval,” he said.
“In the American political environment, one cannot simply ignore all of the areas where the US and Iran have significant differences. At the same time, people should not be too impatient (to see change) as it takes several months for the new US administration to review the foreign policy,” Fitzpatrick said.
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End News / IRNA / News Code 416625
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