February 25, 2007
Tensions were rising between Iran and the West this weekend as Britain prepared to push for tough new United Nations sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear enrichment programme.
Bill Richardson, US Governor of New Mexico and a 2008 presidential candidate, on Saturday urged the Bush administration to negotiate directly with Iran. "Sabre-rattling is not a good way to get the Iranians to cooperate," he said. "But it is a good way to start a new war." Richardson, UN ambassador during the Clinton administration, said Iran would "not end their nuclear programme because we threaten them and call them names". But British Foreign Office sources in London were at pains to stress that Cheney had also reiterated that the West preferred a "peaceful" resolution to the nuclear dispute. They said all current efforts by the US and the EU are focused on the diplomatic front.
Preparations under way
A senior member of Israel's intelligence establishment, meanwhile, told the Observer that suggestions that preparations were under way for possible Israeli military action against Iran were "wrong". He said his country wants a diplomatic solution but added that there is deep concern over the situation. He said Israel remains deeply sceptical of suggestions that Ahmadinejad's hard-line nuclear policy is being eroded by outside diplomatic pressure. Foreign Office sources took a more bullish view, saying they have been encouraged by "a number of visible signs" in recent weeks of internal criticism of Ahmadinejad and that "his standing is diminishing".
The key now, according to an Foreign Office official involved in the Iran issue, is to "ratchet up the pressure" by getting the toughest possible new UN resolution capable of winning not only American and EU support, but that of a more sceptical Russia and China as well. "There must be a united front, so that the Iranians understand we are sending a clear message," a source said. The International Atomic Energy Agency formally reported back to the UN last week that Iran had flouted the Security Council's 60-day deadline to freeze its enrichment programme and thus allay international concerns that it is developing a nuclear weapon. Instead, it had expanded the programme by setting up hundreds of centrifuges. Ahmadinejad responded to the report by saying that it was irrelevant whether foreign powers believed Iran's repeated insistence that its nuclear activities were peaceful. He said Iran would resist "all bullies" and go ahead with the programme
