An intelligence analysis by an undisclosed government asserts that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wants his country publicly pursue a nuclear deterrent, placing him at odds with Iran's governing religious authorities, the Associated Press reported on Friday (see GSN, July 21).
(Jul. 22) - Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, shown last year, favors a more cautious approach than President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in developing the Middle Eastern nation's nuclear capabilities, according to an intelligence assessment (Sajad Safari/Getty Images).
Ahmadinejad wants to shake free of the restraints Iran has imposed upon itself, and openly push forward to create a nuclear bomb, while Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wants to progress using secret channels, due to concern about a severe response from the West, the document asserts. Khamenei is Iran's highest authority in shaping the country's atomic and other policies.
The unverified finding, reached by a country that has typically drawn trustworthy information from the area, fuels a long-running debate over Iran's atomic intentions as the Middle Eastern nation closes in on acquiring a nuclear-weapon capability, according to AP. Iran has dismissed international concerns that its nuclear program is geared toward weapons development while consistently refusing to curb its disputed atomic activities.
Khamenei has decided to transfer engagement with the most sensitive parts of the nuclear program, including activity that can be used for nuclear weapons, from ... the group of scientists at the Defense Ministry, who are identified with Ahmadinejad, to a special body in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the document adds. This, due to the increasing lack of trust the leader has in people in sensitive positions, who are identified with the president.
European officials familiar with a recent U.S. intelligence report on Iran appear to endorse the view that Khamenei is fearful of international reactions to an Iranian nuclear bomb, Institute for Science and International Security head David Albright said.
There is a lot of caution in the regime about the implication of building nuclear weapons, Albright said. The implication is that it was the supreme leader who has taken a more wary approach, he said.
Top officials in Tehran are "worried about starting a nuclear weapons race and worried about the international impact," particularly in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, the expert said. Cairo and Riyadh have each hinted they might pursue their own atomic arsenals in response to a nuclear-armed Iran.
One analysis sees Ahmadinejad as more "moderate" than Khamenei and contends the Iranian president is more willing to engage with outside powers over the nuclear dispute, according to a U.S. government source. Some officials and independent experts suggested Iran wants the ability to establish a nuclear deterrent on short notice, a position lining up with the view that Khamenei hopes to minimize risk (Associated Press/Washington Post, July 22).
Meanwhile, Iran on Friday suggested it could pursue discussions with the United States "on an equal footing and without preconditions," Agence France-Presse reported.
"We have not ruled out establishing relations with other countries barring the Zionist regime (Israel), but it is possible that our relations are in an unusual situation with countries like the United States, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said in remarks reported by the Islamic Republic News Agency.
If one day the United States agrees to a dialogue on an equal footing and without preconditions, while respecting the rights of our people, the situation will be different, Salehi said (Agence France-Presse/Dawn, July 22).
"We are ready to talk with world powers about the nuclear dispute, but we are after a win-win situation and, therefore, recommend the West to come to the negotiation table with equality and mutual respect," he added in a Deutsche Presse-Agentur report.
"If not, then they can continue their path even for another 30 years, but they should just know that pressure would not intimidate or make us surrender but just stronger," he said (Deutsche Presse-Agentur/Monsters and Critics, July 22).
Elsewhere, a measure added to the U.S. Foreign Relations Authorization Act would mandate an assessment of the State Departments ability to adequately enforce economic penalties against Iran with its available finances, one lawmaker said on Thursday.
Inadequate staffing levels in the office charged with determining the validity of thousands of news reports, documents and statements about the thousands of energy firms potentially operating or looking to operate in Iran is insufficient, Representative Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), who proposed the measure, said in a statement. If we are serious about stopping the threat to national and international security posed by a nuclear armed Iran, then we must not only continue to bolster the stringent framework of targeted, biting sanctions, but we must ensure we are providing the necessary tools to implement and enforce these laws to their fullest extent (U.S. Representative Ted Deutch release, July 21).
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