Iran delays decision on U.S.-backed uranium plan
Iranian leaders failed to accept a proposal to ship most of their uranium abroad for enrichment. Iranian state TV said Tehran was waiting for a response to its own proposal to buy nuclear fuel instead. According to Jim Walsh, a proliferation specialist at MIT, the plan would have allowed Western powers time to negotiate a halt to the program, while allowing the Iranian government to say it had achieved an important concession from the United States by improving the safety and functionality of the Tehran reactor. David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, explains the ramifications of the deal in an interview with Council of Foreign Relations.
"Much has been made of how this deal would allow a testing time for the U.S. and its partners to measure Iran's intentions without the nuclear program breathing so heavily down their necks. But the Iranians see it as a test as well," Trita Parsi, head of the National Iranian American Council, said in a Global Security Newswire article. "From their perspective, they've done things in the past aimed at building confidence on the American side, but they feel it hasn't been appreciated."
