Engaging Tehran

In a small victory for European diplomacy and constructive engagement, the International Atomic Energy Agency recently verified that Iran has suspended its uranium enrichment activities. It did so in accordance with an agreement reached with Britain, France and Germany (known as the EU3), which held out the prospect of expanded trade and investment in return for Iranian cooperation.

The Iranian-EU3 agreement has derailed for now an effort by the Bush Administration to isolate and sanction Iran for its alleged nuclear weapons activities. But the Administration has made clear that it is not about to join the European effort to engage Iran, and it issued a barrage of statements designed to discredit the agreement. The State Department claimed it had information that Iran was adapting missiles to carry nuclear warheads, and the White House pointed to reports that Iran had accelerated the production of uranium hexafluoride, a gas used in the production of nuclear weapons.

In putting out such statements--based in large part on unverified information from a single source whose reliability is questionable--the Administration shows that it either has no idea of its credibility problem or doesn't care. Worse, it seems determined to pursue a hard-line approach regardless of whether it has a chance of succeeding. The Administration does not have a viable military option against Iran, with US forces tied down in Iraq and with Iranian nuclear facilities dispersed to avoid preventive strikes.

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