Not Pushing Iran into a Corner
There is a lot of talk about a missed deadline these days when it comes to Iran’s nuclear issue. On July 19, the 5+1 talks with Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili took place with a surprise appearance of William J. Burns, America’s new Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. Unfortunately, he was not supposed to take part in the discussions. But anyhow, the mere fact that he listened to the Iranian standpoints was quite a sensation after almost 30 years of the American-Iranian ice age. The talks had been characterized as very constructive by both parties although the 5+1 did not get a definite answer with regard to their rather generous offer in case of freezing the uranium enrichment by the Iranians. According to Reuters, Javier Solana and Saeed Jalili agreed upon further telephone contacts within the next two weeks or so. There was no deadline set or mentioned. A self-fulfilling prophecy: that is what most observers expected when Burns had been sent to Geneva. Let hi...