This is somehow…su…

This is somehow…surprising?

Talks between Iran and the EU’s three biggest powers on the future of Tehran’s nuclear program are near collapse as Iran threatens to resume sensitive atomic activities, European diplomats said on Wednesday.

In a deal reached with Britain, Germany and France last November, Tehran agreed to suspend all nuclear fuel-related activities while both sides tried to negotiate a long-term solution regarding Iran’s atomic ambitions.

But Iran, unhappy with the slow pace of talks, said over the weekend it would resume some work related to enrichment, a process of purifying uranium to use in nuclear power plants or atomic weapons.

“It doesn’t look good,” a diplomat from one of the three nations told Reuters on condition of anonymity. “The talks could collapse.”

And fear of such a collapse is exactly what Iran needs to hold over the EU’s head. Europe’s motto lately has been, “Speak softly and carry a wet noodle”, hoping that talking nice and making big promises will keep madmen from using nukes. Well, just ask Jimmy Carter how North Korea’s holding up their end of the bargain. However, some folks have the guts to prepare for what may be required.

JERUSALEM – With Tehran announcing it will shortly resume some nuclear activities in spite of ongoing negotiations with European countries, a private report that was issued to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon urging an American or Israeli pre-emptive strike against Iran has been gaining some steam here.

“Iran is determined to pursue all legal areas of nuclear technology, including (uranium) enrichment, exclusively for peaceful purposes,” Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi told a United Nations conference yesterday. He was the fourth Iranian official to make such remarks the past few days.

An EU negotiation team represented by Germany, France and the UK, which has been seeking guarantees Iran will not use its nuclear program to develop weapons, said if Tehran follows through with the threat to enrich uranium it could refer the country to the U.N. Security Council for punitive action.

An action almost certain to be blocked by Russia, because…

Reports continue to stream in that Iran – with the assistance of Russia – has been moving ahead with its nuclear program. Several reactors with advanced production capabilities have been built, and Russia has been contemplating providing Tehran with rods that are able to enrich uranium, a deal that was first reported last September.

Russia also recently trained a group of senior Iranian nuclear scientists and has installed a mobile anti-missile system to protect Iran’s Bushehr nuclear reactor, with similar systems allegedly in the works for other Iranian nuclear facilities, including a facility in central Iran.

We can’t rely on the UN to keep the world safe from a nuclear Iran; it’s that simple.

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