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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Monday, May 17, 2010

An Iranian nuclear deal?

In a rather surprising move, Iran agrees to a nuclear deal that ships and stores its enriched uranium in Turkey. The whole thing feels very curious and may just be a negotiating tactic or attempt to dodge pressure, however. the early published details would appear to meet many of the US demands.

The deal was reportedly brokered by Brazil, although the "tick-tock" hasn't really been written yet, so we don't know if Brazil really set it all up or whether Iran just gave them the credit to keep such a deal away from association with the US. (Any way this breaks is a huge "world stage" coup for up and coming Brazil.)

So far, it appears to be set up without consultation with the IAEA and, at least officially, without the US, so I really think we'll have to wait to see the details before a full judgment. Here's two early versions: AP and the NYTimes.

Aaahh, here it is. The BBC notes that, thus far, such a deal doesn't seem to inhibit Iran's enrichment processes and research.

6 Comments:

  • I think you'll find the swap was originally an Iranian proposal. The US keeps finding fault with it.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:42 AM  

  • That's my hunch because it doesn't stop them from enriching.

    On the other hand, a half measure the Obama folks could tout, so they might provisionally take this, and press on for more.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 10:41 AM  

  • They will have to convince the Israelis.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:05 AM  

  • True. And as long as the Iranians are allowed to enrich, it will be dicey.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 1:08 PM  

  • It's interesting that Gibbs talks about Iran 'continuing its 20 percent enrichment' This suggests that a lower percentage of enrichment might be acceptable.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:54 PM  

  • I think if they could have full verification, they'd accept that, but that's a really tough thing to work out on bot sides.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 9:25 PM  

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