Webster Brooks: "U.S. - Iran Nuclear Talks Signals Iran's Growing Strength And American Re-Positioning Tn The New Middle East"

"[Yesterday's] talks between the U.S. and Iran were of the utmost importance, but many have already called the talks a failure because Iran refused to suspend its uranium enrichment program as a condition to start formal nuclear negotiations. Nothing could be further from the truth," said Webster Brooks, Director of the U.S. Iran Peace Project - which advocates for the rull restoration of diplomatic ties between USA and Iran - and a moderate.

Mr. Brooks insisted the meetings were important in three ways: 1) The U.S. was forced into face-to-face nuclear negotiations with Iran by the Europeans, and by Iran's increasingly muscular footprint in the Persian Gulf. The talks gave Iran a key psychological and political victory of appearing as equals at the nuclear negotiating table with the U.S.; 2) President George W. Bush's retreat from the hard-line position of 'no talks without enrichment suspension' lowers the political threshold for the next U.S. president to open nuclear negotiations with Iran without being labeled an appeaser; and 3) Unless both countries unwisely revert back to their hard-line positions, the talks could generate short-term momentum to continue discussions on U.S. plans to open an Interest Section in Iran and the resumption of talks for re-starting direct commercial airline flights between the U.S. and Iran.

At the end of Saturday's nuclear talks, European Union Foreign Policy Minister Javier Solana said the Iranians had two weeks to respond to the “freeze-for-freeze proposal,” whereby Iran would not add to its nuclear program, and the United States and other powers would not seek new international sanctions for six weeks to pave the way for formal negotiations. Mr. Brooks said Iran will likely reject this overture too, just as they did last year. The package would give Iran economic and political incentives if it stops producing enriched uranium.

In conclusion, Mr. Brooks said, what is most important now is not the nuclear talks, but further progress on short-term non-nuclear issues. "No substantive progress is possible on the nuclear issue until a new U.S. president is elected, and most likely only if Barack Obama wins."