02 December 2010

Geneva Talks Present Iran with an Opportunity, U.S. Says

Under Secretary William Burns, shown testifying to Congress in April, says Iran can easily show that its nuclear program is peaceful if it so chooses.

By Stephen Kaufman
Staff Writer

Washington — U.S. officials are welcoming Iran’s agreement to engage in talks about its nuclear program December 6–7, and say there is still an opportunity for Iran to build confidence with the international community.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the Obama administration is encouraged that Iran will meet in Geneva with European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, who will be representing Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France, the United States and Germany, collectively known as the P5+1.

Speaking December 1 in Astana, Kazakhstan, Clinton said the meetings offer Iran “an opportunity … to come to the table and discuss the matters that are of concern to the international community,” principally its nuclear program.

“We hope that Iran will enter into these negotiations in the spirit that they are offered. We want to see Iran take a position as a responsible member of the international community. But in order to do that, it must cease violating international obligations, [and] cease any efforts it is making and has made in the past toward achieving nuclear weapons,” Clinton said.

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns told U.S. lawmakers on the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee December 1 that it is still possible to reach a solution that ensures Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear energy while fulfilling Iran’s international responsibilities and convincing the international community that its claims that its nuclear activities are for purely peaceful purposes are true.

“If Iran wanted to demonstrate the exclusively peaceful purpose of its program, it wouldn’t be hard to do it,” by responding to questions and concerns that have been posed to it by both the International Atomic Energy Agency and the United Nations Security Council, Burns said.

“There is still time for diplomacy if Iran is prepared to engage in serious discussions,” he said. “We will show what’s possible if Iran meets its international obligations and adheres to the same responsibilities that apply to other nations.”

Burns said the past year has shown growing international recognition of “what’s at stake and about the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran.” The costs of Iran’s continued noncompliance are rising, he added.

The June passage of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1929 “broke important new ground in curbing arms transfers to Iran,” by targeting the role of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iran’s proliferation efforts, instituting the first-ever ban on Iranian ballistic missile activities, limiting Iran’s ability to fund nuclear and missile proliferation through international financing, and “for the first time highlighting formally potential links between Iran’s energy sector and its nuclear ambitions.”

Resolution 1929 was followed by measures against Iran imposed by the United States, the European Union, Canada, Australia, Norway, Japan and South Korea. In addition, major European and Asian energy companies have been persuaded to “terminate existing sanctionable activities in Iran and provide clear assurances that they would not undertake any such activities in the future.”

Burns estimated that Iran may be losing $50 billion to $60 billion in potential energy investments, “along with the critical technology and know-how that comes with them.”

In addition, due to international sanctions, Iran’s import of refined petroleum products has dropped by 85 percent from an estimated 130,000 barrels per day in July to 19,000 barrels per day in October, he said.

Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey told the committee that under Resolution 1929, U.N. member states must “prevent the provision of financial services if there are reasonable grounds to believe that such services could contribute to Iran’s nuclear missile program.”

Iranian access to the international financial system has been reduced because, given its past behavior, “it is virtually impossible for banks and governments to assure themselves that transactions with Iran could not contribute to proliferation-sensitive activity,” Levey said.

In the face of increased financial pressure, “the Iranian government has increasingly turned to the IRGC for key economic projects.” This, he said, is likely to exacerbate Iran’s isolation because “companies around the world have begun to shun all business with the IRGC, given its support for terrorism and involvement in Iran’s proliferation activities and human rights abuses.”

Burns said Iran has a choice to make in its talks in Geneva.

“We are not taking issue with the right of Iran or any other country to a peaceful nuclear program. What’s at issue here is its responsibility, like any other country in the world, to demonstrate that it’s going to conduct a purely peaceful program,” he said.

“There is a path whereby Iran and its people can have access to peaceful nuclear power, just like any other country in the world. They just have to convince the international community of the seriousness of their willingness to live up to their responsibilities. And that’s really what’s at issue here,” Burns said.

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)