Analysts: Iran’s slowing of enrichment may signal that it wants a deal
Evidence began emerging last summer that the Iranians were diverting a significant portion of their medium-enriched uranium for use in a small research reactor, converting it into a form that cannot easily be used in a weapon.
One American official said the move amounted to trying to “put more time on the clock to solve this,” characterizing it as a step “you have to assume was highly calculated, because everything the Iranians do in a negotiation is highly calculated.” Israel’s departing defense minister, Ehud Barak, came to a similar conclusion when he said in October that his country could safely back away from threats of military action against Iran, at least until the late spring or summer of 2013.
But White House, State Department and Pentagon officials all cautioned against drawing firm conclusions about Iran’s ultimate intentions.
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If they wanted a deal, they’d do the opposite. Looks more like they are slow walking it to fruition to avoid a deal or an attack.
forest on December 28, 2012 at 9:18 AM
Uh they could be cooking the MEU into PLUTONIUM….they could be the MEU to produce TRITIUM. In short, the fact that the MEU isn’t being diffused or refined, could mean, simply, the Iranians are diversifying their core materials and are making the foundation of Boosted Fission Weapons and the precursor for Thermo-Nuclear Weapons, both of which require Tritium.
JFKY on December 28, 2012 at 9:28 AM
And at the NYT, EVERYTHING is seen as a signal that Iran wants a deal.
Iran explodes a nuclear weapon, a sign they want a deal, they just got rid of the last sticking point, their possession of too much fissile material.
Iran explodes a nuclear weapon over Tel Aviv, a signal that Iran wants a deal, they got rid of their excess fissiles and made an overture towards Israel.
Iran detonates an ADM in the NYT Offices, a desperate cry for a deal, why oh why do they hate us so?
JFKY on December 28, 2012 at 9:35 AM
Can this statement get anymore naive?
BigGator5 on December 28, 2012 at 9:41 AM
I needed that chuckle.
rbj on December 28, 2012 at 10:15 AM
Or it could mean that Israel/US is winning the ‘shadow’ war. But no, the NYT isn’t likely to be taken in by such ‘wild assumptions’.
Blacksoda on December 28, 2012 at 10:41 AM
Sorry Greeks, now it has become: “Beware of Iranians slowing production…”
After decades of double-talk and deceit, anyone who puts any credence at all on Iranian public indicators deserves exactly what those schmucks will be dishing out when it suits them.
In a region of the world where lying and deceit are virtues, it takes an extremely naive individual to give a moment’s notice to anything that sounds the least bit like these practiced liars are hinting at accommodations.
The official attitude really should be: There’s no smell like ayatollahs frying in their own greases.
dockywocky on December 28, 2012 at 10:46 AM
Really? If someone can come up with on valid reason why the Iranians would not want a nuke (assuming they dont have one already) I would like to hear it.
They can do it with functional impunity, so why not do it, and getting a nuke immediately solidifies the regimes staying power.
If Assad had a nuke, we would not now be funding al qaedi terrorists to take over Syria.
And anyways, Obama wants Iran to get a nuke
georgealbert on December 28, 2012 at 11:12 AM
Yeah.
vityas on December 28, 2012 at 11:42 AM