Iran Talks Have One Goal: Stop Israel

Baghdad is all atwitter over the P-5+1 talks with Iran beginning today. A sandstorm kept many European and Western diplomats from landing, but the Iranians were out in full force, with Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili leading the way. (He spent Tuesday paying calls on Iraqi leaders before settling down for a restful night and a day of “negotiations” with the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, and China.) But there’s no need to wait for good news: The New York Times has trumpeted a proto-agreement between the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran over a site the IAEA has been trying to visit for years. Which site, you ask? Parchin; you know, the one the Iranians have been sanitizing for the last few weeks. And maybe Iran will also sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) additional protocol, which requires additional safeguards, enables snap inspections, and more. Are the details worked out? Not quite (but we should trust IAEA Chief Yukiyo Amano, who’s tough and serious)… Have the Iranians promised both before? You bet. But optimism is in the air.