Friday, October 30, 2009

US remains more willing to show patience with Iran than Britain & France ....

In the FT, here

Iran last night indicated it wanted to make significant changes to a draft agreement with the US and other world powers over its nuclear programme, in a move that may scupper the chances of any final accord being reached........However, European diplomats told the Financial Times that Iran had told the agency it wanted to transfer the LEU out of the country in stages over a period of time rather than meeting international demands for a large and immediate transfer......

"They are trying to turn this into a negotiation," said a European diplomat with knowledge of Iran's response to the agency. "But it makes no sense to do it in this way. Their response is unacceptable."

However, Washington responded cautiously to Tehran's move, noting that it awaited "clarification of Iran's response" rather than threatening sanctions or condemning the Islamic Republic for its failure to sign up to the draft deal.

"We remain unified with our Russian and French partners in support of the IAEA draft agreement - it is a good and balanced agreement," said the US, signalling Washington's hope that Iran could yet agree to the original deal.The comments indicate the US remains more willing to show patience than either Britain and France.. While London and Paris have at times made known their reservations about the agreement, it is seen in the US as a test of President Barack Obama's policy of engagement..."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"They are trying to turn this into a negotiation," said a European diplomat with knowledge of Iran's response to the agency. "But it makes no sense to do it in this way. Their response is unacceptable."

Since this is the Financial Times and they refer to a European diplomat, I think it safe to assume that this is either a German or French diplomat talking which is a relief as I would hope that no British diplomat is so moronic as to say something so stupid.