Iran Is Ready for Nuclear Deal, Leader Says
Ahmadinejad Revives Plan, but U.S. Says He Hasn’t Made Official Approach; Opposition Leader Lashes Out at RegimeBy JAY SOLOMON
FEBRUARY 2, 2010WASHINGTON—Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his government would accept a nuclear fuel-swap agreement overseen by the United Nations, a deal the Obama administration has viewed as central to limiting Tehran’s ability to develop atomic weapons.
The Iranian leader’s announcement on state television Tuesday, however, was immediately greeted with skepticism by Western diplomats, who have watched Tehran flip-flop on the fuel-swap issue since it was proposed in October.
Senior U.S. officials said Mr. Ahmadinejad hadn’t conveyed an agreement to the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“The deal is still on the table,” said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley. “We don’t exactly know what Ahmadinejad said, but if he’s prepared to say yes, that’s good news. He should contact the IAEA.”
Many U.S. and European diplomats said Mr. Ahmadinejad’s comments appeared designed to upend an accelerating international campaign to sanction Iran for its nuclear work. In recent days, the Obama administration has begun circulating to allied countries the names of Iranian entities—including its central bank and businesses controlled by its elite military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—that Washington wants sanctioned under a new U.N. Security Council resolution, say officials who have seen the list.
“Iran has continued to try and divide the international community on sanctions,” said a European diplomat working on Iran. “I don’t see why this overture would be any different.”
The Obama administration said it wouldn’t renegotiate the terms of the deal…
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