Opinion Nuclear talks

As it announced new breakthroughs in its atomic programme and threatened to cut off oil supplies to some European countries on Wednesday,Iran was offering to resume nuclear talks with the international community.

Tehran’s claimed breakthroughs — indigenously made fuel rods for a research reactor and the operation of a new generation of centrifuges to make sensitive enriched uranium fuel — did not impress the West.

But the ostentatious moves — marked by President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad showing up in a white coat at a nuclear laboratory — certainly help in rallying domestic public opinion,in Iran’s nuclear confrontation with the West. It also serves to underline Iran’s emphasis on negotiating from a position of strength.

However,as tighter Western economic sanctions begin to bite,Tehran has also signalled some flexibility. In a letter written earlier this week to Catherine Ashton,the foreign policy chief of the European Union,Iran voiced its readiness to resume the stalled nuclear talks on the basis of reciprocity and a step-by-step approach to resolving the dispute.

While US spokespersons have claimed that the offer to resume talks is a signal of Iran’s weakness,there is nothing to suggest so far that Tehran is ready to yield on the basic Western demand — to freeze the enrichment programme that could produce material for nuclear weapons.

Iran claims that its enrichment programme is for peaceful uses and points to its right to have such a programme under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. The West argues that Iran is using the excuse of peaceful uses to build a weapons programme.

Some earlier initiatives,from Russia as well as Turkey and Brazil,have sought to bridge the divide. After initial expressions of interest in Washington and Tehran,the proposals went nowhere.

While technical fixes exist,the success of the resumed talks will depend upon the political dynamic in Iran and the United States and the ability of leaders on both sides to make necessary concessions.

For the moment,though,no one is betting that a deal will materialise any time soon. For there are deep divisions — ideological and political — in Washington and Tehran that make a compromise near impossible.

Different strokes

As the United States and Iran circle each other,the contrast between the Indian and Chinese diplomatic approaches to the crisis is rather stark.

Both Delhi and Beijing have high stakes in the relationship with Iran,which is a major source of their energy imports. As Washington squeezes Iran’s oil and financial sectors,India and China are under pressure to cope with the consequences.”

In India,most people,from a rice trader in Mangalore to the foreign secretary in Delhi,all emphasise why India cannot cooperate with the United States in isolating Iran.

The Chinese vice president,Xi Jinping,the presumed heir-apparent to President Hu Jintao,on a much-watched tour of the United States this week grandly announces that Beijing is ready to assist Washington in addressing the Iran challenge.

In a major speech in the US capital,Xi declared that “China and the United States face shared challenges and shoulder shared responsibilities in international affairs”.

“We should further use bilateral and multilateral mechanisms to enhance coordination between China and the United States on hotspots,including developments on the Korean peninsula and the Iran nuclear issue,” Xi said. Beijing,of course,would drive a hard bargain with Washington on Iran and extract a pound of flesh for every ounce of cooperation.

China has also been adapting at the ground level by reducing oil imports from Iran. India might be doing the same,but the daily barrage of statements on Iran from every section of the UPA government make Delhi look rather obstreperous in the United States.

Syria vote

As the debate on the Syrian crisis moves to the United Nations General Assembly this week,the Arab League is keeping an eye on the Chinese response.

Earlier this month,China along with Russia,vetoed a resolution sponsored by the Arab League against Syria in the UN Security Council.

Denouncing the veto,the Arab League has moved a similar resolution — calling for political transition in Syria — to the General Assembly which is expected to vote on the issue this week.

The permanent members of the UNSC can’t exercise a veto in the General Assembly. Chinese abstention on the vote could,however,signal Beijing’s desire to mollify the Arab sentiment.

In the last few days,Beijing has been reaching out to the Arabs and explaining its veto. Beijing also hosted a group of Syrian opposition leaders calling for UN intervention in their country.

The writer is a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research,Delhi