West must keep watching Iran

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Iran appears ready to agree to ship its enriched uranium to France and Russia for processing into nuclear fuel.

This would be a positive step; perhaps the first positive step since the Iranian nuclear program became public earlier this decade. The United States should embrace this Iranian concession.

However, it’s only a positive step, not a positive outcome. Taking enriched uranium out of Iran for fuel processing does little more than buy the West time in dealing with what more and more looks to be a covert nuclear weapons program.

Processing the enriched uranium outside Iran gives the West a better view of what is going on inside the nation. It means greater access to enrichment facilities. As International Atomic Energy Agency officials point out that the more they know, the better off everyone is. The West’s stonewall diplomatic tack toward the Iranian program from 2004 through this year did little more than decrease knowledge of the program, and the rancorous debate gave Iran cover and support at home for further developing a covert program.

Inspectors have now visited the worrisome Qom facility, though their findings won’t be reported for a while yet.

Oddly, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has used the fight to bolster his stature, is calling the new proposal a change from “confrontation to co-operation.”

He may be right, and this may be in the best interests of the United States, Iran and the planet. But, hand in hand with cooperation, we must remain watchful.

Posted on Thu, Oct. 29, 2009 10:15 PM

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