U.N. nuclear chief Yukiya Amano touts Iran inspection deal; Western diplomats skeptical
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano, left, shakes hands with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili in Tehran, Iran, May 21, 2012. / AFP/Getty Images
(CBS/AP) BAGHDAD - Iran made the first move Tuesday in attempts to gain an edge in nuclear talks with the U.S. and other world powers: It agreed in principle to allow U.N. inspectors to restart probes into a military site suspected of harboring tests related to atomic weapons.
The tentative accord - announced as envoys headed to the Iraqi capital for negotiations - is likely to be used by Iran as added leverage to seek concessions from the West on sanctions. But U.S. officials have shown no willingness to shift into bargaining mode so quickly, setting the stage for possible tense moments after talks set for Wednesday resume in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone.
Still, Iran's move raises the pressure on the West for some reciprocal gestures to keep dialogue on track and further highlights Tehran's apparent aims of opening a long give-and-take process over its nuclear ambitions.
CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reports that Western diplomats are skeptical about the deal. They feel that Amano felt a lot of pressure to reach an agreement with Iran and that he came back from Tehran with a lot less than he should have. Not reaching a binding, comprehensive deal fell short of expectations generally.
"This is not a final agreement," one European diplomat told Palmer. "It may be a basic understanding, so it may represent a certain success."
Iran denies it seeks nuclear arms and says its reactors are only for power and medical applications.
While the contents of the agreement are not yet known among diplomats, it is unlikely that the deal will affect European and Western negotiators heading to the table in Baghdad, Palmer reports.
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By compromising on the IAEA probe, Iranian negotiators in Baghdad could argue that the onus was now on the other side to show some flexibility and temper its demands. Although Amano's trip and the talks in Baghdad are formally separate, Iran hopes progress with the IAEA can boost its chances Wednesday in pressing the U.S. and Europe to roll back sanctions that have hit Iran's critical oil exports and blacklisted the country from international banking networks.
It was unclear, though, how far the results achieved by Amano would serve that purpose, with him returning without the two sides signing the deal, despite his upbeat comments.
After talks in Tehran between Amano and chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, "the decision was made... to reach agreement" on the mechanics of giving the IAEA access to sites, scientists and documents it seeks to restart its probe," Amano told reporters at Vienna airport after his one-day trip to Tehran.
Amano said differences existed on "some details," without elaborating but added that Jalili had assured him that these "will not be an obstacle to reach agreement." He spoke of "an almost clean text" that will be signed soon, although he could not say when.
Skeptical Western diplomats believe Iran's willingness to open past and present activities to full perusal would only reveal what they suspect and Tehran denies — that the Islamic Republic has researched and developed components of a nuclear weapons program. They say that Tehran's readiness to honor any agreement it has signed is the true test of its willingness to cooperate
The United States is among those skeptics. In a statement released soon after Amano's announcement, Robert A. Wood, America's chief delegate to the nuclear agency, said Washington appreciated Amano's efforts but remained "concerned by the urgent obligation for Iran to take concrete steps to cooperate fully with the verification efforts of the IAEA, based on IAEA verification practices."
"We urge Iran to take this opportunity to resolve all outstanding concerns about the nature of its nuclear program," said the statement. "Full and transparent cooperation with the IAEA is the first logical step."
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak also voiced doubts, saying the Iranians are trying to create a "deception of progress" to save off international pressure.
"It looks like the Iranians are trying to reach a technical agreement that will create a deception of progress in talks in order to reduce the pressure ahead of talks tomorrow in Baghdad and postpone harshening of sanctions," Barak said during a discussion at the Defense Ministry, according to a statement from his office.
"Israel believes that a clear bar should be set for Iran that won't leave room for any window or crack for Iran to proceed toward military nuclear capability," Barak said. "It's forbidden to make any concessions to Iran. World powers demands must be clear and unequivocal."
Barak held out the possibility that Iran be allowed to keep a "symbolic amount" of low-enriched uranium for medical or research purposes, but only if it is under "strict" international supervision.
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That is STAVE OFF not SAVE OFF, boy CBS your editing stinks!
I really don't understand why people are so worried about Iran having nuclear weapons. Get the PROPERLY translated speeches by Iran's President and you would realize that Iran is nowhere near as 'crazy' as America tries to make them out to be, speaking as an American.
Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons[5][6] and to be the sixth country in the world to develop them.[7] It is one of four nuclear-armed countries not recognized as a Nuclear Weapons State by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the others being India, Pakistan and North Korea.[8]
he is a troll.
He fraudulently and regularly misrepresents himself as multiple commenters when he is but one person.
He is not associated with the Church of Latter Day Saints.
He's arrogant and thuggish actions represent some of the most basal hate speech the United States Constitution protects .. to a point long since past.
I believe he is either paid by an enemy of Western liberal democracies or suffering from a mental illness.
Wooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The US will not attack Iran because Israel will do the job for them.
----
It's about time Israel pulled its own weight. We just need to distance ourselves from them so it doesn't appear that we condone their pre-emptive attacks.
What are they hiding????
Israel is no ally of the US.
In order to produce plutonium the Israelis needed a large supply of uranium ore, some of which was procured by the Mossad on the pretense of buying it for an Italian chemical company in Milan. Once the uranium was shipped from Antwerp it was transferred to an Israeli freighter at sea and brought to Israel. The orchestrated disappearance of the uranium, named Operation Plumbat, became the subject of the 1978 book The Plumbat Affair.[48]
Estimates as to how many warheads Israel has built since the late 1960s have varied, mainly based on the amount of fissile material that could have been produced and on the revelations of Israeli nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu.
The top military Iran General of all Generals again states he wants to destroy Israel..... Reminds me of 1930s Germany, with all sorts of threats and action, yet the liberals refused to see/listen.
In the congress right now, HR 4133: Look at "It is interesting to note what exactly the bill pledges the American people to do on behalf of Israel. It obligates the United States to veto resolutions critical of Israel, to provide such military support "as is necessary," to "PAY(my emphasis) for the building of an anti-missile system, to provide advanced "defense" equipment (including refueling tankers, which are offensive), to give Israel special munitions (i.e., bunker-busters, which are also offensive), to forward deploy more U.S. military equipment to Israel, to offer the Israeli air force more training and facilities in the U.S., to increase security- and advanced-technology-program cooperation, and to extend loan guarantees (more free money (my emphasis)) and expand intelligence-sharing (including highly sensitive satellite imagery). Actually, there's even more included, and I may have missed the kitchen sink. But the objective is to provide Israel with the resources to attack Iran, if it chooses to do so, while tying the U.S. and Israel so closely together that whatever Benjamin Netanyahu does, the U.S. "will always be there," as our president has so aptly put it.
In other words, it continues the rape of American Tax Payers.
But the scariest bit of the bill is its call for "an expanded role for Israel within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), including an enhanced presence at NATO headquarters and exercises." If Israel becomes part of NATO, which is clearly Congress's intent, the U.S. and other members will be obligated to come to the aid of a nation that is expanding its borders and is currently engaged in hostilities with three of its neighbors. Israel has also initiated a series of regional wars. Whether NATO membership for Israel would benefit anyone is questionable, but it is something the neocons have been seeking for years, to turn Israel's wars into a new crusade against the Muslim world.