June 17, 2012

Conclusion

This analysis provides an analytical reading of the developments of the nuclear file after the US-Iranian talks that took place in Baghdad on May 28, 2007. The report also deals with the impact of the internal dialogue in Washington and Tehran, as well as regional and international developments on the negotiations taking place between Iran and the European Union and between Iran and the Energy Agency nuclear. The report also sheds light on the positions and proposals that were announced to find a settlement to the Iranian nuclear issue.

The report presents some evidence that seems to indicate that the general political mood in the region is pushing for an escalation, and perhaps even a limited military confrontation.

Introduction

It is expected that the Security Council will begin during the month of July 2007 to discuss the report of the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which was submitted to the Council in late May of the same year. This discussion was preceded by a meeting between Ali Larijani, Secretary of the Iranian National Security Council, and Javier Solana, High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy in the European Union, on June 23, 2007 in Lisbon. This meeting was preceded by a meeting between Larijani and Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Larijani-Solana acquires special importance in view of a number of regional and international developments that took place after their last meeting in Madrid. The US-Iranian meeting in Baghdad, the four-hour meetings between the ambassadors of the two countries, the division that is said to be deepening within the US administration over how to deal with Iran, as well as the increasing violence in Iraq, which led to an increase in the number of deaths on the American side.

Negotiations between the representative of the European Union and Iran focused from the first day on the issue of uranium enrichment. The common belief among the European Union countries, including the United States of America, is that Iran is enriching uranium in quantities that exceed what Iran describes as its necessary needs for energy production. The Europeans and Americans have reinforced the idea that the Iranian nuclear project is not without military ambitions. Otherwise, what is the meaning of covering up this program for eighteen years? Hence, all the proposals presented – and from different parties – focused on the fact that stopping enrichment is the main step to start a serious dialogue to resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis peacefully. Iran, during the era of President Muhammad Khatami, had unilaterally announced the suspension of uranium enrichment, in early 2005, but President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad decided to suspend this initiative, and called for the continuation of uranium enrichment.