There’s been a lot of chatter this week about whether the United States was too quick to dismiss the letter from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to President Bush, the first direct communication from an Iranian leader to the U.S. in nearly three decades.
Bush shrugged off the letter, saying, “It looks like it did not answer the main question that the world is asking and that is, ‘When will you get rid of your nuclear program?”‘
The 12-page letter, full of religious and historical references, also mentions the Iraq war but refers only indirectly to Iran’s nuclear program. So, it’s easy to see why administration officials say it wasn’t a serious diplomatic overture.
But the letter also prompted some observers to ask whether the U.S. and Iran should be holding direct talks on the nuclear issue.
For now the administration probably is wise to stick to the multilateral approach. The U.S. has agreed to allow the Europeans to develop a new list of incentives and sanctions in another effort to persuade Iran to curtail its nuclear program. That move came after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice failed to convince Russia and China to censure Iran for restarting a uranium enrichment program.
The move also brought a softer tone from Rice, who said that an Iranian civilian nuclear program is “appropriate.”
“We agreed to continue to seek a Security Council resolution but that we would wait for a couple of weeks while the Europeans design an offer to the Iranians that would make clear they have a choice that would allow them to have a civil nuclear program if that is indeed what they want,” Rice said Wednesday.
Iran has claimed all along that its nuclear program is for peaceful production of nuclear energy. The United States, some European nations and others accuse Iran of using the civilian energy program to hide plans to build a nuclear weapon. There’s no reason for the U.S. or Europe to lower their guard as long as Iran’s intentions are murky. But leaving the door open to negotiation is key.
If Iran snubs renewed European efforts, that might persuade Russia and China to agree to impose economic sanctions, which could lead to a change of heart by Iran.
In the meantime, the U.N. Security Council needs to continue to send the message that moving toward a weapons program is unacceptable and that Iran should return to the negotiating table.
