Brazil
President Lula, Iran President Ahmadinejad and Turkey Prime
Minister
Erdogan and aides raise hands on celebration after reaching
a
deal that calls for Iran to ship some of its uranium to Turkey for
reprocessing,
May 17.
Estadao, Brazil
Lula's Achievement:
Defeating U.S.-Backed Sanctions Against Iran
"The
victory Lula celebrates is the conviction that with this agreement, the U.S.
will fail to obtain the 9 out of 15 U.N. Security Council votes it needs to
approve sanctions. In a month’s time, Iran will send 1,200 kg of low-enriched
uranium to Turkey for storage. Within a year it will receive 120 kg of uranium
enriched to 20 percent from Russia and France, or Turkey will return the
material in its custody to Iran."
Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has become a political superstar in Latin America. An ambitious statesman, his recemt brokering of a nuclear deal with Iran has confounded the U.S. and its allies and has perhaps altered forever international diplomacy.
In his inaugural address on January
20, 2009, American President Barack Obama extended a hand to “those who are
willing to unclench their fists.” Of course, he was referring to Iran, with
whom the United States broke off relations after the 1979 Islamic Revolution -
and Washington is convinced (along with others) that Iran’s nuclear program is
aimed at producing the atomic bomb. Sixteen months later, Iran shook hands with
Brazil and Turkey instead.
After exhausting negotiations
that were finalized in Tehran on Sunday [May 23], Iran President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was visiting
the country, and Turkish Prime Minister Recap Tayyip Erdogan, who traveled
there in haste to meet them, along with the chiefs of staff of the three
countries had their photos taken with their hands in the air to celebrate an
agreement that calls into question the U.S. effort to pass a fourth round of
sanctions against Iran in the U.N. Security Council.
The United States and her
European allies urge the adoption of new sanctions for Iran’s refusal to open
up its nuclear activities to complete supervision by the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) - and for operating its uranium enrichment program at a
higher rate than required for non-military use despite its being forbidden to
do so by the U.N. Security Council. Neither this nor its dreaded program has
changed with this agreement which has a very limited scope - but which has now
altered the landscape.
Last October, Iranian
negotiators reached an agreement with the Vienna Group (the United States,
France, Russia and the IAEA) on a scheme in which Tehran would send Russia
1,200 kg [2645 pounds] of uranium enriched to 3.5 percent, or around two
thirds of its uranium stock. The Russians would enrich it to 20 percent and the
French would then package the material in such a way that it could be used in a
medical research reactor. The exchange would have taken a year - which was one
of the reasons cited by Iran at the beginning of the year for withdrawing from
negotiations.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
The country has a history of
accepting proposals simply to gain time and confound its negotiating partners. In
this case, however, Iran seems to have feared that France wouldn't hold up with
its end of the bargain. That is why Ahmadinejad demanded that the exchange be
simultaneous - a condition unacceptable to the West. After all, the objective
of the operation was to reduce the quantity of fissile material in Iran’s
possession, thus delaying her supposed military-nuclear project.
At that point, the United
States focused on persuading the recalcitrant members of the U.N. Security
Council, starting with Russia and China, that sanctions had become the only
way. But Brazil, holder of a non-permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, made
the controversial decision of strongly opposing sanctions until all diplomatic
initiatives could be exhausted. In the role of mediator he has adopted,
President Lula has comported himself as Ahmadinejad's defender.
Unless belied by future events,
Lula’s tenacity will be rewarded. Accused of serving the Iranians by deceiving
the international community in pursuit of unrealistic ambitions to global
leadership and contrary to the position of the United States - the Brazilian
government, along with the crucial participation of Turkey, resurrected Iran's
deal with the Vienna Group. In one month’s time, Iran will send 1,200 kg of
low-enriched uranium to Turkey for storage. Within a year it will receive 120
kg of uranium enriched to 20 percent from Russia and France, or Turkey will
return the material in its custody to Iran.
“This was a response that
made it possible to build peace through dialogue,” exulted Lula. However,
Washington claimed that Iran’s declared stockpiles have grown since last October.
What then accounted for two-thirds of Iran's uranium currently amounts to a little
more than half. But that's not the most important point. The fact is that Iran
will continue enriching uranium without being inspected by the IAEA, under
circumstances that indicate its intention to create a bomb.
The victory that Lula is
celebrating is the conviction that with this agreement, the United States will fail
to obtain the 9 out of 15 votes in the Security Council that it needs to
approve sanctions.
