Pulling the Iran Proposal into Context

Stories we're following today:

Why Washington Should Welcome Iran's Broadening of the Agenda – Trita Parsi in Huffington Post  [link]

• Amid continued political confusion in Iran following election fraud and widespread human rights abuses, the Iranian government responded to the P5 plus 1 nuclear negotiations package by offering its own rather imprecise and abstract proposal to resolve -- not the nuclear issue, per se -- but global problems in general.
• By presenting its own proposal, Iran is introducing its own parameters. The Iranians are in essence negotiating about the shape of the table before negotiating matters of substance.
• Note: Dr. Trita Parsi is President of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a Ploughshares Fund grantee.

IAEA Leader Sees “High Probability” of Iranian Nuke Program, if Intel is Credible – Global Security Newswire [link]

• "If this information is real, there is a high probability that nuclear weaponization activities have taken place [in Iran]," Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said behind closed doors at a meeting of the organization's 35-nation Board of Governors. "But I should underline 'if' three times."
• "ElBaradei is correct on both counts -- this is a deeply troubling capability and there is no need to panic," Joseph Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, told GSN yesterday. He said there is "strong circumstantial evidence that Iran in the past conducted some research on weaponization" but it remains unclear "how far they got."

Administration Bigwigs Talk Iran – Laura Rozen in Politico [link]

• National Security Council über-Middle East strategist Dennis Ross and U.S. point man on Iran nuclear negotiations and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns addressed some 300 Jewish leaders attending a conference on Iran yesterday.  
• Essentially, Ross and Burns both reiterated that the administration’s objective is to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. The administration’s strategy has been “engagement without illusions.”
• None of this was terribly new, particularly to this very knowledgeable audience. But the Obama administration is trying to explain its policy, strategy, thinking and timeline to this important audience.

U.S. Ready for Direct North Korea Talks to Break Atomic Impasse – Bloomberg [link]

• “There’s a consensus that we’re prepared to engage North Korea bilaterally as a means to accomplish what our long-term objectives are: to encourage North Korea to come back to the six-party process” and take “affirmative steps toward denuclearization,” Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Philip J. Crowley said by telephone.
• Crowley stressed the U.S. wouldn’t have any direct talks without the approval and support of its four partners, and that the discussions would be a short-term solution to get North Korea back to the broader discussion on its nuclear weapons.

The Lighter Side
Liechtenstein, Andorra Forced To Fight By Larger Countries – The Onion [link]

• The G8's proposal, which seeks to pit the small, landlocked principalities against each other in military combat, was reportedly drafted after the leaders of the eight nations had grown bored with their recent negotiations over international energy tariffs.
• "They have to do it for real, though; they can't just declare a cease-fire after 20 minutes," Merkel said. "And no cyberwars either. We want real bullets, real people. We'll know if they're just circling around each other pretending to fight."