Clinton: US Doesn’t Expect Diplomacy to Work With Iran

Iran Again Insists Charges About Nuclear Program Are Baseless

www.antiwar.com

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she has serious doubts that Iran would respond to the Obama Administration’s interest to engage in diplomacy on its nuclear program, and that “our eyes are wide open on Iran.”

Secretary Clinton apparently did not believe that the Iranian President’s remarks during last month’s 30th anniversary of the Iranian revolution celebration that his nation was ready to talk with the United States constituted a response. Nor apparently did the numerous other times since President Obama’s elections in which the Iranian government spoke of its eagerness to improve relations.

But Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi again told reporters that the repeated US claims that his government was attempting to make a nuclear weapon were “baseless remarks, even from the technical viewpoint, and just for political propaganda.”

The spokesman pointed to the fact that the latest accusations, made by Admiral Mullen, were immediately contradicted by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, adding that his government is neither capable nor willing to begin enriching uranium to the levels necessary to make nuclear weapons. The IAEA has repeatedly confirmed that the uranium enriched so far to only the low levels needed for its upcoming nuclear power plant has not been diverted to any other use.

punditman says...This type of rhetoric does not bode well. Let's hope that it is just posturing by the Obama/Clinton team and that they are actually seriously pursuing back channel contacts with Iran. The problem with this issue is that the level of propaganda is immense. Let's hope that it is mostly propaganda and that an Israeli-US/Iran showdown doesn't plunge the world into the abyss.

Obama Administration Accuses Iran of Pursuing Nuclear Weapons

Accusations Show New Administration's Clean Break From Intelligence Estimate

www.antiwar.com

It has been 15 months since the release of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran which determined that the Iranian government had halted all efforts to create a nuclear weapon, and the outgoing chairman of the National Intelligence Council reaffirmed those findings only two months ago. The Obama Administration didn’t seem to read those reports, however.

President Obama accused Iran of “development of a nuclear weapon” during a press conference. Incoming CIA director Leon Panetta declared during his testimony that “I think there is no question that they are seeking that capability.”

While the Iranian government continues to express its desire to improve relations, Obama and associates just keep hurling accusations at Iran’s civilian nuclear program. There’s one thing the administration is missing though, and that’s evidence. Officials concede there is no evidence that undercuts the 2007 findings, but like the Bush Administration, the newcomers don’t seem to want fact to get in the way of good rhetoric.

punditman says...This does not surprise Punditman in the least; unlike a common assumption out there amongst the sheeple, there is no structural change in US foreign policy just because Obama is in charge.

So long as there is no fundamental change at the institutional level, it appears impossible for a US President to not huff and puff and threaten Iran. It's been going on since the CIA organized the overthrow of the democratically-elected government of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddeq and installed the Shaw in 1953.

Current tensions between the US and Iran are far from resolved and have the potential to become a very hot crisis. Or, the Obama administration can stop misleading the public and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton can save the day by taking Iranian overtures seriously and open a serious dialogue that could lead to detente.

What scenario is more likely, the former or the latter? Punditman is unsure but the former will make financial armageddon look like a picnic.

White House Dismisses Report of Iran Letter

Attacking Iran Still on the Table, Obama Spokesman Insists

www.antiwar.com

Yesterday it was reported that the Obama Administration was looking at sending a reply letter to the Iranian government which would signal a willingness to improve ties and perhaps hold direct talks between the two. The move would have been the most significant move toward normalizing relations between the United States and Iran in 30 years.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs was quick to dismiss the report. “Neither the president nor the secretary of state has seen such a letter,” according to Gibbs. He also added that many issues needed to be addressed with respect to Iran, including their illusory “illicit nuclear program” and their “threatening of peace in Israel.”

So just one day after the possibility that the Obama Administration might actually make a positive move toward peace with Iran, the White House is again raising the specter of a US military strike against Iran. The Iranian government has expressed repeated willingness to improve ties, and while President Obama has spoken of rapprochement as well his official policy has so far remained that of President Bush: barely restrained hostility.

punditman says....We shall see.