Iran's Dire Need for Nuclear Energy

"The fifth round of Iran US talks have concluded today in Rome with some but not conclusive progress."

"We hope to clarify the remaining issues in the coming days, to allow us to proceed toward the common goal of reaching a sustainable and  honourable agreement."

Badr al-Busaidi, Oamni mediator 

"[Al-Busaidi presented ideas that will be conveyed to the two nations' capitals] without creating any commitments for either side."

"These negotiations are too complex to be resolved in just two or three meetings. I am hopeful that in the next one or two rounds -- especially given the better understanding of the Islamic Republic's positions -- we can reach solutions that allow the talks to progress."

"We are not there yet, but we are not discouraged either."

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi

 

"We do not have hope yet, because the American side is still insisting on zero enrichment and I know the Islamic Republic of Iran will never agree with zero enrichment."

"I got disappointed and do not have much hope that the negotiations will lead to a deal. We are preparing for plan B."

"[It is too early to judge whether the talks could succeed.] So far we have not seen much seriousness on their (U.S.) part."

Ebrahim Rezaei, member of Iran's parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Committee

Members of the Iranian delegation leave the Omani embassy in Rome after the fifth round of talks. Photograph: Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters

 

 A fifth round of negotiations taking place in Rome over the Iranian rapidly advancing nuclear program reflects the expert obfuscation, denials, objections and expertise in prolonging negotiations with the ultimate purpose of foiling them that the Islamic Republic of Iran is noted for. Even so, intervener Oman and the Trump administration are determined to forge on with the farce, as though anything meaningful could ever be accomplished in dealing with obstructive, inauthentic Iranian negotiations, which simply rebuts any hint of criticism by claiming it doubts the sincerity of the U.S.

 

On the other hand, how 'sincere' is the United States negotiation which allows itself to be played with by the world's foremost supporter of Islamist terrorism is a legitimate enough charge, albeit from the perspective of those who have never harboured doubts of the Islamic Republic's untoward mission of producing nuclear heads to fit neatly on the ballistic missiles it so assiduously perfects in range and accuracy with its oft-stated self-appointed mission to annihilate Israel?

 

American demands of Iran that it put a halt to its uranium enrichment program, are met with Iran's adamant correction of a misapprehension of its search for nuclear weapons, that its interest goes only so far as domestic nuclear use for energy; as innocuous an aspiration for nuclear, as might be imagined, and as treacherous an insistence as could ever be understood. The U.S. State Department's policy planner, Michael Anton alongside Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff left the Omani Embassy in Rome, surely under no illusions that the ongoing pantomime suited Iran's stalling purposes and no other.

 

Having repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes to target Iran's nuclear installations should an agreement remain out of reach, it is obvious that the threats have made no real inroad in the consciousness of the Iranian administration, recognizing bluff when they encounter it. With respect to a more reliable threat emanating from the State of Israel, on the cusp of finally taking out Iran's reactor bases, Iran warns of an oncoming apocalypse. 

 

This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows the Bushehr nuclear reactor in Iran on May 1.

Planet Labs PBC/AP

 

Iran, warned Araghchi, would take "special measures" to defend its nuclear facilities should Israel make good on its threats to strike nuclear facilities in Iran ... amply warning the U.S. it would consider America as complicit in any Israeli attack. A group of Iranian students were authorized to form a human chain at Iran's underground enrichment Fordo site, with its tight security, built into a mountain as defence against potential airstrikes.

 

"We believe that we are going to succeed" in the talks on Washington's demands for no enrichment, stated Tammy Bruce, spokesperson for the U.S. State Department. "The Iranians are at that table, so they also understand what our position is, and they continue to go." This, while Iran's Foreign Ministry maintains enrichment must continued within Iran's borders. For civilian use strictly, of course. A country with untold wealth in energy resources, arguing that it must be able to produce nuclear energy for internal use.

 

This in the country whose "Axis of Resistance" lies fragmented with its regional terrorist allies under repeated military attack by Israel. Key ally Syria's President Bashar al-Assad also can no longer be relied upon in support of Iran's ambitions of regional conquest. At a time when Iranians are demanding release from the stifling iron grip of Islamist mullahs and women openly defy the mandatory hijab on the streets of Tehran, and rebellion once again rumbles through the country.

 

Protesters in London highlight the plight of a university student who was detained after stripping down to her underwear in Tehran in November 2024. Photograph: Martin Pope/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock

"Iran almost certainly is not producing nuclear weapons, but Iran has undertaken activities in recent years that better position it to produce them, if it chooses to do so."

"These actions reduce the time required to produce sufficient weapons-grade uranium for a first nuclear device to probably less than one week."

U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency