Friday, May 12, 2006  What is the Starting Point for Diplomacy
With Iran Leaders?  Amir Taheri, Arab News: "The key is
diplomacy" - this is the phrase that is increasingly heard with
regard to the crisis over Iran's alleged nuclear ambitions. Some
commentators have seen the letter that Iran's President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad sent to his US counterpart George w. Bush as a
strong signal that Tehran is ready for a diplomatic settlement.
The latest peddler of the idea of a "diplomatic solution" is
Muhammad El-Baradei, director of the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) who says the nuclear crisis is just part of a
package of issues that need to be negotiated with Iran. El-
baradei's change of tack is interesting because it was on the
basis of his report about Iran's policy of "cheat-and retreat"
that the dossier was referred to the UN Security Council in the
first place. And, as things stand, it seems unlikely that the
veto-holding powers at the Security Council will manage to agree
on a common position before