Iran Nuclear Watch: President Bush Rejects August Iranian Response to Big 6 Proposal

Iran should not need until late August to answer an international offer for a nuclear deal, US President George W. Bush said in reaction to Iranian timing for a response. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, pictured here on 16 July 2006, said Tehran will reply in August to an international call for a freeze of its sensitive nuclear work, despite calls for a reply by the end of June.

AFP: Iran should be able to answer nuclear offer before August — Bush

Iran should not need until late August to answer an international offer for a nuclear deal, US President George W. Bush said in reaction to Iranian timing for a response.

“It seems like an awful long time for a reasonable proposal . . . It shouldn’t take the Iranians that long to analyze what is a reasonable deal,” Bush told a press conference after an EU-US summit in Vienna.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday Tehran will reply in August to an international call for a freeze of its sensitive nuclear work, despite calls for a reply by the end of June.

“We will study the offer and, God willing, will give our opinion at the end of the Mordad,” Ahmadinejad said in a speech, referring to the Iranian month that ends on August 22.

Stall and obfuscate are the modus operandi of Iran and North Korea.

In the meantime, Iranian centrifuges are enriching uranium.

Bush said Iran had “weeks not months” to answer the offer by Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States that European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana delivered in Tehran on June 6. Diplomats say Iran was asked to reply by June 29.

I said weeks not months and I believe that is the view of our partners,” Bush said. “We’ll come to the table when they verifiably suspend,” Bush said.

The Iranian answer is NO in any case. They have stated over and over that there will be NO preconditional suspension of uranium enrichment. So, it doesn’t matter whether they answer NO now or in August.

The United States NEVER expected Iran to say yes. And Iran will never agree because they covet a nuclear weapons program as a matter of sovereign right.

Condoleezza Rice’s gambit has boxed in Iran’s Mullahs/President Ahmadinejad and delay/stalling is their only way out. Iran hopes that over time the discussion will evolve around “talks” and not the threat of Iran’s nuclear program. Europe abhors confrontation and Iran plays upon European reluctance to force issues.

Will the United States force Iran’s hand prior to the G-8 summit in mid-July?

Probably, but listen to China and/or Russia scream about a rush to judgement.

Will Iran be referred to the United Nations Security Council?

Probably, but will the UNSC be able to deter Iran’s nuclear ambitions?

DOUBTFUL

It is up to the United States and Israel.