The US will join other major powers in seeking an early meeting with Iran although Tehran's refusal to discuss its nuclear program was described by Washington officials as "disappointing."
They said the Obama administration
is consistent in its aim of dialogue with Iran and wants the meeting offered by
Tehran to take place as soon as possible to assess Iran's readiness to deal with
the nuclear issue ahead of the Six-Power discussions taking place later this
month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Far from meeting the Obama administration's gesture halfway,
Iran's new defense minister Ahmed Wahidi delivered a fierce attack on Washington
Saturday, Sept. 12, warning the US "not to try the militarize the region" and
denying the production of weapons of mass destruction as "contrary to our
religion and principles."
DEBKAfile's Washington sources say the Obama
White House is relying on the public's short memory on Iran's prevarications. On
July 20, 2008, the six powers including the US confronted Iran at the
negotiating table in Geneva. Iran's nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili listened
quietly to the Bush administration's undersecretary of state William Burns'
words on its nuclear activities, then announced he was not competent to respond
and would refer to Tehran for instructions. Jalili never did come back with his
government's response.
After Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated loud and
clear last week that the nuclear file was closed for Tehran, the Iranian
negotiators will no doubt repeat this exercise which had the effect of tying US
hands for more than a year and will keep them tied for several more months.
Whatever the outcome, it is no good Washington relying on tough new sanctions
because that door has been shut by Moscow and Beijing's published intention to
block them.
The former commander of the big Israeli air base at Hatezerim,
Brig. (ret.) Shelly Guttman, said Saturday that for the first time since the Yom
Kippur War, Israel faces an existential threat. Nevertheless, Russia and France
are leading an internatonal drive to stall military action as well.
Thursday, Sept. 10, Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin
warned against the use of force or new sanctions against Iran, the toughest
caution Israel has heard so far. Neither course will "solve the problem," said
the Russian leader.
The caution from Moscow followed frantic consultations in
Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in the last week for a decision on whether Israel should
resort to its military option for pre-empting the rise of a nuclear-armed Iran
already on the threshold, according to US intelligence agencies. Our Moscow
sources say the Russians may be expected to keep up their verbal pressure on
Jerusalem.
Putin was supported from Paris the same day, when France
released the opinion offered by French army chief Gen. Jean-Louis Georgelin in
Washington that military force to wipe out Iran's nuclear program "was no longer
viable."
While Putin explained his objections to military action as:
"Russia has no reason to doubt that Iran's nuclear program is purely peaceful,"
the French general argued: "It is very difficult to plan a military operation in
Iran, because we are not sure in one shot to be able to solve a problem and if
you fail in one shot, it is a