Americas

Americas

U.S. Urged to Confront Iran on Nuclear Work

22 June 2012 15:03 (UTC +04:00)

Dennis B. Ross, a former senior White House adviser on Iran, said he believed the negotiations had become a trap, allowing Iran to continue enriching nuclear fuel while the two sides fail to agree on even interim measures to slow the Iranian program. The major powers, he said, should scrap the step-by-step approach in favor of a comprehensive deal that would test Iranâ€™s sincerity, but could also hasten a military confrontation.

â€œThe issue here is, â€˜How do you deal with a process thatâ€™s going to be harder and harder to justify?â€™ â€ said Mr. Ross, who left the administration in December and is now a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. â€œIf it looks like youâ€™re engaging in a process for the sake of process, thatâ€™s a bigger problem.â€

â€œFor them to really feel they need to reach an agreement, they need to know that if diplomacy fails, the pressure is on them,â€ Mr. Ross said in a telephone interview from Israel, where he was meeting with Israeli officials.

Mr. Ross said he worried that the calendar, which initially worked against Iran because of the sanctions, was now in its favor. In particular, he said, the Iranians appeared to be calculating that Mr. Obama wanted to keep diplomacy going until after Election Day on Nov. 6. â€œThey read the 6th as us not wanting diplomacy to fail,â€ he said.

Though Mr. Ross keeps lines to former colleagues at the White House, he has not persuaded the administration to change course. A senior administration official said pursuing a comprehensive deal would take months of negotiation, during which time Tehran would continue to enrich uranium. Agreeing on interim steps could freeze Iranâ€™s enrichment sooner.

â€œTime is problematic,â€ said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. â€œAs time moves on, it gets more problematic.â€