In a new Op-Ed, former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter highlights last weekend’s meeting in Tehran between Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Mohammed el-Baradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency. “The meeting,” says Ritter, “is remarkable. It represents active diplomatic involvement by the supreme leader in Iran who really makes the decisions.” While the bulk of American threat perception about Iran is refracted through the prism of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s incendiary rhetoric, Ritter points out:
Constitutionally, all powers over Iran’s military, police, diplomacy, economy and national security reside with the ayatollah. The fact that he would meet with el-Baradei is a clear signal that the Iranians are serious about peacefully resolving their differences with the West over their nuclear program.
Ritter will be speaking in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, January 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the Carnegie Library Lecture Hall in Oakland.
(Photo Reuters)
UPDATE - Speaking to a packed-house audience of close to 400 people in the Carnegie Library, Ritter pegged the likelihood of U.S. war versus Iran at 80%. Particularly concerning for Ritter is the recent activity at the U.S. military base in Diego Garcia, where he says facilities are being retro-fitted to accommodate a surge of B-1 bombers capable of carrying bunker-busting weapons into Iran.
2 Comments | 
30. January 22nd, 2008 anon wrote:
The meeting between Khamenei and ElBaradei has implications toward peace. Khamenei, who did not approve of UN oversight regarding the nation’s nuclear program, made it clear that the International Atomic Energy Agency would be the lone handler of the nuclear program. Openness regarding the program looks to be a positive situation. With no secrecy about what exactly is being created with the nuclear program, suspicions involving the United States could possibly be determined. Despite the fact that Khamenei renounced the UN in this case, the IAEA’s peaceful involvement in the situation can only be a good thing.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F7C0D0E9-9B94-4C64-83F7-261CEB3C352F.htm
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-iran13jan13,1,2395268.story?coll=la-middleeast
42. February 8th, 2008 Anon wrote:
An article in the New York Times today reports that Iran has created new centrifuges to make atomic fuel. This brings up important questions with implications for international security. Is Iran seeking to make atomic weapons now that they have more reliable technology? Do they truly just want this technology to fuel nuclear power plants as they claim? I think it will be interesting to see how Washington and the international community will respond to this new information.