US seeks bilateral talks with Iran

Thanks for your comments Steve.  What the discussion will be is indeed an interesting question.  It will be interesting if the bilateral meeting happens.  I suspect Ahmedinejad will want to speak to President Obama directly.  It is all about being seen with the American President in order to save face within Iran.

I am split on this topic. On the one hand Iran is acting like the spoiled child. On the other Iran is seeking to establish itself as a sovereign nation. Are the motives that the international community accuses Iran of real or are they self-serving. Many, I know, will condemn Iran for it's reckless behavior but we must remember that the true sufferer's of this government are the citizens of Iran. My heart wants me to believe that Iran will become a positive influence in the Middle-East but looking at the reality of the situation I fear my heart is misplaced.

I read that Iran has agreed to having inspectors look at thier nuclear facility.

So that is some progress.

To be accurate and put some of the belicose US and German propaganda to bed, Iran has been requesting bi-lateral substantive talks with the USA for years with no result, and has brought forth a number of suggestions worth looking at for atomic disarmament talks.To think though that such talks will bring about an end to Iran's legal pursuit of domestic nuclear energy is absurd.  It has every right to regardless of Western posturing.  Remember what happened before the attack on Iraq?  All the lies and nonsense?  Can anyone hear this deja vu echo chamber yet?Iran has never refused IAEA inspections, and has done nothing not within its rights at all.Here's the most succinct, brief, and truthful analysis of the whole silly affair by Middle East expert John Pilger: Normal 0 false false false EN-CA X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} "Iran’s crime is its independence. Having thrown out America’s favourite tyrant, Shah Reza Pahlavi, Iran remains the only resource-rich Muslim state beyond US control. As only Israel has a “right to exist”in the Middle East, the US goal is to cripple the Islamic Republic. This will allow Israel to divide and dominate the region on Washington’s behalf, undeterred by a confident neighbour. If any country in the world has been handed urgent cause to develop a nuclear “deterrence”, it is Iran. by John Pilger www.johnpilger.com/Anyone who really knows what's going on rather than the MSN version knows this to be the case.

"The UN's chief weapons inspector, Mohamed ElBaradei, said today he had seen "no credible evidence" that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, rejecting British intelligence allegations that a weapons programme has been going on for at least four years."The opening paragraph of the article in yesterday's Guardian.As Mr. ElBaradei and his inspection teams have been saying consistently for over a decade, and verified by the latest Security Assessments for the US Administration.This is the same WMD nonsense that tricked US citizens into supporting the illegal and criminal invasion of Iraq.And finally, nothing but silence from Obama about Israel's secret nuclear weapons, all 200 of them, and its refusal last week, the latest in a series of refusals to allow IAEA inspectors on its nuclear sites as has been requested ad nauseum by the UN and the IAEA, and its ongoing reusal to sign the nuclear NPT

Just a few of the Top Things you Think You Know about Iran that are not True:Belief: Isn't the Iranian regime irrational and crazed, so that a doctrine of mutally assured destruction just would not work with them?Actuality: Iranian politicians are rational actors. If they were madmen, why haven't they invaded any of their neighbors? Saddam Hussein of Iraq invaded both Iran and Kuwait. Israel invaded its neighbors more than once. In contrast, Iran has not started any wars. Demonizing people by calling them unbalanced is an old propaganda trick. The US elite was once unalterably opposed to China having nuclear science because they believed the Chinese are intrinsically irrational. This kind of talk is a form of racism."Belief: The West recently discovered a secret Iranian nuclear weapons plant in a mountain near Qom.Actuality: Iran announced Monday a week ago to the International Atomic Energy Agency that it had begun work on a second, civilian nuclear enrichment facility near Qom. There are no nuclear materials at the site and it has not gone hot, so technically Iran is not in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, though it did break its word to the IAEA that it would immediately inform the UN of any work on a new facility. Iran has pledged to allow the site to be inspected regularly by the IAEA, and if it honors the pledge, as it largely has at the Natanz plant, then Iran cannot produce nuclear weapons at the site, since that would be detected by the inspectors. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton admitted on Sunday that Iran could not produce nuclear weapons at Natanz precisely because it is being inspected. Yet American hawks have repeatedly demanded a strike on Natanz.Belief: Iran has threatened to attack Israel militarily and to "wipe it off the map."Reality: No Iranian leader in the executive has threatened an aggressive act of war on Israel, since this would contradict the doctrine of 'no first strike' to which the country has adhered. The Iranian president has explicitly said that Iran is not a threat to any country, including Israel.Belief: But didn't President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threaten to 'wipe Israel off the map?'Reality: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did quote Ayatollah Khomeini to the effect that "this Occupation regime over Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time" (in rezhim-e eshghalgar-i Qods bayad as safheh-e ruzgar mahv shavad). This was not a pledge to roll tanks and invade or to launch missiles, however. It is the expression of a hope that the regime will collapse, just as the Soviet Union did. It is not a threat to kill anyone at all.And if you are really interested in information rather than rabble rousing and provocateurs from Israel go and read the rest at www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23601.htm