A Second Letter from Iran US Can't Afford to Ignore

[BurtWorm]

Via Kevin Drum:


http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2006_05/008789.php

MORE FROM IRAN....Guess what? There's a second letter from Iran. It's from Hassan Rohani, a representative of Ayatollah Ali Khameini, and it was published in Time magazine on Tuesday. Here's the concrete part of the proposal:

* Iran would make an active contribution, provided that other countries with similar sensitive fuel cycle programs also do the same, to fixing the loopholes in the non-proliferation system and to developing a technically credible international control regime.

* Iran would consider ratifying the Additional Protocol, which provides for intrusive and snap inspections.

* Iran would address the question of preventing break-out from the NPT.

* Iran would agree to negotiate with the IAEA and states concerned about the scope and timing of its industrial-scale uranium enrichment.

* Iran would accept an IAEA verifiable cap on enrichment limit of reactor grade uranium.

* Iran would accept an IAEA verifiable cap on the production of UF6 — uranium hexafluoride, which is used for enrichment — during the period of negotiation for the scope and timing of its industrial scale enrichment.

* Iran and the IAEA would agree on terms of the continuous presence of inspectors in Iran to verify credibly that no diversion takes place in Iran.

* Iran's readiness to welcome other countries to partner with Iran in a consortium provides additional assurance about the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program.

It's hard to say just how serious this is, or how much clout Rohani really has, but it does provide a basis for the United States to talk directly with Iran. And we should.

[Ezlivin]

1. Bush is waiting for the movie

He doesn't have time to read.

[lyonn]

5. Your comment would be funny if it wasn't so true! Clever tho.

[Ezlivin]

7. It's either make a sarcastic remark or break down into tears

I honestly can't take much more of what is going on in this country.

My wife and I both raised our right hands and swore to defend this country and the Constitution when we served.

Now it all seems for naught.

[lyonn]

10. So did my husband and I - raise our hand to defend

[Ezlivin]

11. Well, we still have to defend it, right?

I'll have to start answering the phone "This is a non-secure line."

[jpak]

2. Sounds reasonable to me - which is exactly why it will be ignored

"Diplomacy has failed"...etc.

:nuke:

[leftchick]

3. This is the Letter to pay attention to

and respond to. Ayatollah Ali Khameini calls the shots in Iran not the pres. Of course the US will ignore it because they want war.

:cry:

[katty]

18. painting bush into a corner...you want a war bush? you can start it

[stellanoir]

4. Would that it were that cooler and rational heads

would prevail. After the last 5 & 1/2 years that's darned unlikely.

And I'm generally an optimist.

"An Iranian making sense. . . ? inconceivable." /sarcasm

Ackttt these bloody racists.

[spanone]

6. 'We' haven't spoken to Iran since 1980. How do you conduct diplomacy?

:shrug: :shrug: :shrug: :shrug: :shrug: :shrug: :shrug: :shrug: :shrug: :shrug: :shrug: :shrug: :shrug: :shrug: :shrug: :shrug: :shrug: :shrug: :shrug: :shrug: :shrug:

[CottonBear]

9. Well, Reagan & Poppy Bush talked to them during Iran-Contra.

Of course, that conversation wasn't about diplomacy. :(

[lyonn]

13. Ah, but it was a secret!

[CottonBear]

14. Well, BushCo is all about secrecy and surprise diplomacy.

:sarcasm:

[lyonn]

17. Certainly not by communicating with each other (sarcasm)

This has not been mentioned on the msm. We need to keep this kicked.

[bigtree]

8. delete wrong post kick

[DrDebug]

12. They shouldn't ignore this letter

Because not only is it an opening, it is from Ayatollah Ali Khameini who is the Supreme Leader and in charge of the army and the only person who can deal with matters on War and Peace in Iran.

Rummie Bush Rice are going to ignore it... and still claim that they want to solve it democratically.

[lyonn]

15. They will ignore it and when questioned later deny reading it.

[0007]

16. Better not turn their backs on this one.

[LibertyorDeath]

19. Iran has been invited to become a full SCO member.

"The SCO and Iran events

The latest developments around the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and Iran further underscore the dramatic change in the geopolitical position of the United States.

The SCO was created in Shanghai on June 15, 2001 by Russia and China along with four former USSR Central Asian republics-- Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Prior to September 11 2001, and the US declaration of an Axis of Evil in January 2002, the SCO was merely background geopolitical chatter as far as Washington was concerned. Today the SCO, which has to date been blacked out almost entirely in US mainstream media, is defining a new political counterweight to US hegemony and its ‘one-polar’ world.

At the next June 15 2006 SCO meeting, Iran has been invited to become a full SCO member.

Last month in Teheran, the Chinese Ambassador, Lio G Tan announced that a pending oil and gas deal between China and Iran is ready to be signed.

The deal is said to be worth at least $100 billion, and includes development of the huge Yadavaran onshore oil field. China’s Sinopec would agree to buy 250 million tons of LNG over 25 years. No wonder China is not jumping to back Washington against Iran in the UN Security Council. The US had been trying to put massive pressure on Beijing to halt the deal, for obvious geopolitical reasons, to no avail. Another major defeat for Washington.

more much more http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=%20EN20060507&articleId=2401

America's Geopolitical Nightmare and Eurasian Strategic Energy Arrangements

by F. William Engdahl

May 7, 2006
GlobalResearch.ca