Iran and the West set for confrontation
Yevgeny Kryshkin
Jul 26, 2010 15:15 Moscow Time
Michael Hayden. Photo: EPA
The former chief of the CIA Michael Hayden has said as he appeared on CNN news that confrontation between the United States and Iran is becoming ever more likely.
In Hayden’s estimates, Iran has come closest to producing nuclear weapons and is thereby destabilizing the situation in the region. A strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities was considered by the Bush administration as a last-ditch move and far from the worst one.
As politicians argue about a solution, the situation involving Iran continues to deteriorate. Last month the UN Security Council introduced new sanctions against Tehran following its refusal to curtail a uranium enrichment program. The US and the EU followed suit. On Tuesday the EU is introducing a ban on foreign investments in Iran’s oil and gas sector, on the sale of oil and liquefied gas purification technology and is cutting petrol supplies to the country. Other plans for Iran include freezing banks’ and company assets which could be used to finance nuclear research. A thumb-up for these measures was achieved at the EU summit on June 17th. Expert Vladimir Sazhin comments:
"The recent sanctions are fairly tough and are making themselves felt, he says. Apparently, Tehran is alarmed. The EU and US sanctions hit areas other than the UN sanctions. For this reason, Iran is maneuvering to get out of them."
The Iranian leadership is planning to offer a nuclear fuel swap to the International Atomic Energy Agency. A statement to that effect was voiced in the wake of a ministerial meeting of Turkey, Iran and Brazil in Istanbul. In the meantime, Tehran is getting ready for fundamental research in nuclear fusion. Apparently, a conflicting approach of this kind suggests that Iran is determined to get out of giving response to the questions asked by the IAEA and the UN Security Council.