Gareth Porter

German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung’s suggestion that Iran should be allowed to carry out a limited enrichment program under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has exposed a fundamental crack in the façade of unity among the six countries that have given Iran a proposal aimed at halting all its enrichment … Continue reading “German Official Urges Compromise on Iran Enrichment”

Iran’s announcement that it will not respond to the formal negotiating offer from the six powers until late August was both an expression of confidence and a bit of payback for European stalling in responding to Iran in 2005. By refusing to comply with a June 29 deadline, Tehran was communicating to Washington and the … Continue reading “Defying US Deadline, Iran Recalls an EU Stall”

Despite claims that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has regained the diplomatic initiative from Iran with a conditional offer to join multilateral talks with Tehran, the real story behind the policy shift is that the administration has suffered a decisive defeat of its effort to get international sanctions for possible military action against Iran. … Continue reading “Bush Iran Strategy Suffers Major Diplomatic Defeat”

For months, the attention of the U.S. news media, pundits, and elected officials has been riveted on the aims of ultraconservative Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. President George W. Bush in particular has invoked Ahmadinejad’s alleged drive for nuclear weapons and rhetoric about Israel to justify U.S. isolation and pressure on the regime. But the almost … Continue reading “Khamenei in Control
and Ready to ‘Haggle’”

Iran offered in 2003 to accept peace with Israel and cut off material assistance to Palestinian armed groups and to pressure them to halt terrorist attacks within Israel’s 1967 borders, according to the secret Iranian proposal to the United States. The two-page proposal for a broad Iran-U.S. agreement covering all the issues separating the two … Continue reading “Iran Proposal to US Offered Peace With Israel”

In yet another apparent episode of the inability of the White House to steer a consistent diplomatic course in the Middle East, a new report says that the George W. Bush administration ordered U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad in March to postpone indefinitely the talks with Iran on Iraq for which Khalilzad had previously gotten White … Continue reading “Reversing Policy, U.S. ‘Froze’ Iran Talks in March”

As the George W. Bush administration pushes for a showdown over Iran’s nuclear program in the UN Security Council, it has presented the issue as a matter of global security – an Iranian nuclear threat in defiance of the international community. But the history of the conflict and the private strategic thinking of both sides … Continue reading “Iran Nuclear Conflict Is About US Dominance”

The United States has backed away from high-level peace negotiations with Sunni insurgent groups after meeting with them regularly over several weeks in January and February, according to an insurgent leader. Evidence of wavering by the George W. Bush administration over the negotiations came from the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, which reported Tuesday that Sunni … Continue reading “Bush’s Wavering Halts Insurgent Peace Talks”

Iranian leaders have been signaling to Washington since late 2005 that Iran wanted direct negotiations with the United States on Tehran’s nuclear program and other outstanding issues between the two countries. The campaign began with private talks between Iranian officials and foreign visitors in the country, and has included public suggestions by members of the … Continue reading “Iran Pushes for Talks With US on Nukes, Security”

Top Iraq War Commander Reveals Rift with Rumsfeld on Insurgents Gareth Porter A military assessment of the Iraqi insurgency in late 2004 concluded that it had the active support of millions of Sunnis who rejected the legitimacy of a U.S. installed government, according to Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, who led all coalition forces in … Continue reading “Top Iraq War Commander Reveals Rift with Rumsfeld on Insurgents”