Middle East Digest: February 7, 2008Bureau of Public Affairs From the Daily Briefing of February 7, 2008: Yeah, Kirit. QUESTION: Can we change the subject? Do you have anything to say about this case of an American woman in Saudi Arabia who was arrested by the religious police for having coffee with a male colleague at a Starbucks? MR. CASEY: Unfortunately, I don’t know anything about it, so we’ll have to look into it for you. QUESTION: Okay. Thanks. MR. CASEY: Sue. Sorry, Sylvie. You didn’t see (inaudible.) QUESTION: Israel today announced that they are going to reduce their delivery of power to the Gaza Strip from tonight. Do you have any reaction to that since I know you – U.S. intervened several times to convince Israel not to do that? MR. CASEY: Well, I haven’t seen those reports. Certainly, we continue to be concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. And as you know, we respect Israel’s right to defend itself against these rocket attacks and against other violent actions that are occurring and are based in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, we don’t want to see Israel do anything that would worsen the humanitarian situation for the people of Gaza and I’m sure we’ll continue to convey that position to them. But again, I have not seen anything officially from the Israeli Government indicating that they’ve changed their basic view. QUESTION: Well, but at the same time, I mean, a couple of weeks ago, we talked about a Supreme Court decision that upheld their right to do that. I mean, it’s clear through their public statements over the last week or two that that’s what they’ve been planning to do, so the fact that they made the announcement, I mean, is beside the point. I mean, do you think that this particular act, cutting fuel supplies to Gaza, is – falls into the category of self-defense or falls into the category of aggravating the humanitarian -- MR. CASEY: Elise, I think that without any comment on a specific decision that I haven’t seen and am not familiar with, again, our view has been pretty clear and consistent on this. We understand Israel’s right to defend itself, but we do not think that actions should be taken that would infringe upon or worsen the humanitarian situation for the civilian population in Gaza. David. QUESTION: Do you have anything on the Iranians closing a women’s magazine that was supposedly in business for quite a while? MR. CASEY: I’m sorry. I haven’t. We can look into that for you, but I haven’t seen anything on that. QUESTION: Okay. MR. CASEY: Elise. QUESTION: Can you say anything about this Russian institute that the U.S. funded which inevitably money goes also to work on the Bushehr nuclear plant? MR. CASEY: Sure. Well, we talked a little bit about this this morning. First of all, I think you’d want to talk to the Department of Energy since it specifically is a program that they run and manage. And I know that Secretary Bodman was doing some testimony today on general issues related to their upcoming budget, but I suspect they were going to touch on this as well. Let me make a couple of things clear, though. First of all, the United States Government does not fund activities of any kind on behalf of the Iranian Government? I’m not aware that any of the programs that the Department of Energy is supporting have any connection with the development of Bushehr nuclear plant. But let me also make a point, as well, as I did this morning about the Bushehr facility itself. The Bushehr facility is the perfect example of why Iran doesn't need to pursue uranium enrichment or its current efforts to master the fuel cycle. Through the Bushehr arrangement, which the United States has supported in the past and will continue to support, the needs in terms of nuclear fuel of a civilian nuclear plant in Iran are being provided by the Russian Government. They're being provided, though, through a closed fuel cycle in which we and the rest of the international community can be assured that none of that nuclear material is going to be diverted to produce a nuclear weapon. And that was also an arrangement that was a model for the Russian proposal that was offered a couple of years ago to Iran as a solution to international community concerns about what they've been doing in the nuclear field. So again, it's just a reminder that, in fact, there is a real alternative for Iran with real guarantees that could meet any possible civilian need that they have for nuclear power. And it just points out, again, the strangeness of their behavior if their real goal is, as they've stated, simply to have a civilian nuclear power program to meet future energy needs in the country. QUESTION: So if that's the case, then why would it matter if some U.S. money went to this institute, also ended up in the hands of the Bushehr? MR. CASEY: Well, certainly, U.S. bilateral relations with Iran generally aren't supportive of trade or other kinds of economic relations. And we've got a host of regulations and laws on the books that prevent us from doing anything that would offer assistance to Iran in a variety of areas, including in its nuclear programs right now. But I think if you talk with the Department of Energy, they will make it clear to you that none of their funding has, in any way, supported the development of the Bushehr facility. QUESTION: But if Iran were to come into compliance with the demands of the international community and you say that you're happy to allow it to have a fuel cycle, is -- not a fuel cycle, a civil nuclear program, is this something that the U.S. could be involved in funding, like along the lines of what you're doing with North Korea? MR. CASEY: Well, I hope certainly that Iran would choose the course of negotiations and then we could talk about those kinds of issues. But one of the things that we want to see happen is for Iran to accept that offer and then I think there would be an opportunity to discuss what, if any, role the U.S. Government might be able to play in a civilian nuclear program that met the concerns of the international community. Obviously, just as we've seen with examples of other countries, what Iran can do, were it to come into compliance with the demands of the Security Council, is sit down with the United States, as the Secretary's offered, and discuss any issues that it would like to have on the table. And resolution of this very significant nuclear issue is something that would potentially lead to a very different kind of relationship with the United States. |
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