Iran tries to elude more sanctions

By Dale McFeatters

Scripps Howard News Service

It was clear that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad thought he had pulled a real coup ― an agreement with Turkey and Brazil to store 2,640 pounds of its low-enriched uranium in Turkey in exchange for 265 pounds of 20 percent enriched uranium, presumably for medical uses.

What Turkey and Brazil get out of the deal isn't totally clear except that both nations want to play a larger role on the world stage. Turkey sees itself as an emerging leader in the Mideast and both nations hope to develop prosperous relations with Iran.

What Iran got ― or thought it was getting ― was a nuclear swap that would upend the U.S.-led effort in the U.N. to impose more and tougher sanctions on Iran's nuclear program.

But Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that China and Russia had finally agreed to go along with the tougher sanctions, meaning that along with the U.S., Britain and France, she had all five nations with veto power on the Security Council behind the proposal.

If the agreement holds, it will be a welcome sign that the major powers have finally gotten tired of Iran's duplicity and delay in subjecting its nuclear program to international inspection and accountability.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan were in Tehran for the announcement, and seemed quite proud of their arrangement. ``I think Iran has taken a great step forward," Erdogan said.

That might have more resonance with the major nations if Iran had not agreed to ― and then reneged on ― a similar deal with the West last October.

Since then, Iran has greatly added to its store of low-enriched uranium, and it intends to keep half of that supply in Iran and ― here is the glaring loophole in the deal with Brazil and Turkey ― keep on enriching it. What Iran is keeping and enriching is said to be enough for one nuclear bomb.

It's a fair question whether Tehran, if the agreement buys it enough time, will even honor it. Turkey and Brazil should not chill the champagne just yet.

Dale McFeatters is an editorial writer of Scripps Howard News Service (www.scrippsnews.com).