As EU-Iran talks continue Washington is escalating its campaign against the Islamic republic, reports Rasha Saad Washington, which continues to insist that it would prefer to resolve the dispute over Iran's controversial nuclear file diplomatically, has refused to take an active part in ongoing negotiations between the EU's big three -- the UK, France and Germany -- and Iran. Washington, which has been lobbying since June for the issue to be referred to the Security Council and has consistently refused to rule out the possibility of a military strike against Iran, says it will monitor EU-Iran talks rather than take any active role. The meetings that took place earlier this month in Geneva were the third round of talks since Iran agreed in November to suspend its uranium enrichment programme. Negotiations have reportedly stalled over the search for a mechanism to ensure that Iran cannot divert its uranium enrichment activities towards the production of nuclear weapons. Iran insists that its right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes is non negotiable. EU officials believe that if the US were to engage positively in the negotiations it would strengthen the European drive. Germany Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has urged the US to "actively" support the talks, arguing that economic and security incentives are needed to persuade Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions. Mohamed El-Baradie, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), supports the EU call. EU efforts can only succeed "if the US joins in and throws its weight behind them" El-Baradie said in a recent interview. "Progress is difficult to conceive without Washington." The US refusal to heed these calls has led to speculation that Washington believes European diplomacy will ultimately fail, leaving no choice other than the use of military force to deter Iran's nuclear ambitions. Iranian analyst Mohamed Sadeq Al-Husseini believes the US actively wants negotiations to fail. "We are not surprised by Washington's refusal to join our talks with the EU. The US wants negotiations to fail. They want to keep the issue alive until they decide on how to deal with it." Tehran is aware that the Europeans have a different agenda than the US. "With excellent economic and trade interests in Iran the Europeans are keen to keep relations on an even keel. The Americans, on the other hand, lose nothing if negotiations fail," says Al-Husseini. According to Iran expert Fahmy Howeidy the Europeans are keen to bring the Americans on board in order to avert the kind of trans- Atlantic rift that opened up following the US invasion to Iraq. Howeidy, returning from a recent visit to Iran, says "Europe is giving the impression to the Iranians that they will rule out any Security Council resolution to strike Iran. The chaos and quagmire that resulted from the US invasion to Iraq is strengthening the European argument." US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's recent statement that there is not much to separate the approaches of the EU and US on Iran is dismissed by many as empty rhetoric. While both agree that Iran must not be permitted to develop nuclear weapons, the US, many commentators believe, is intent on repeating the Iraqi scenario: there are allegations unsupported by facts, a refusal to negotiate and threats of sanctions or military action. "It's deja vu all over again," former US chief weapons inspector David Kay said, as he warned the US not to repeat the same mistakes in Iran. "You have the secretary of defense talking about the problems of a nuclear-armed Iran. You have the vice-president warning about a nuclear-armed Iran and terrorism; you have Condoleezza Rice saying, 'force is not on the agenda -- yet.'" The US is pushing the EU to use rather more sticks than carrots in its negotiations with Iran. Rice has complained that EU negotiators have failed to make it sufficiently clear that Tehran will face sanctions if it refuses to renounce its suspected nuclear weapons ambitions. "The Iranians need to hear that if they are unwilling to take the deal, really, that the Europeans are giving then the Security Council referral looms," Rice said. "I don't know that anyone has said that as clearly as they should to the Iranians." US officials have also intensified their own campaign on Iran, following the lead of President Bush who, in his State of the Union address, labelled Iran as "the world's primary state sponsor of terror, pursuing nuclear weapons while depriving its people of the freedom they seek and deserve". Shortly after the US media circulated reports that the Bush administration has been flying surveillance drones over Iran for nearly a year, seeking evidence of possible nuclear weapons programmes and probing weaknesses in Iran's air defence systems. The Washington Post also reported that the intelligence community is reviewing its Iran assessments, including a new look at information about the country's nuclear programme, quoting administration officials and congressional sources. A similar review formed part of the administration's case for war against Iraq. While Tehran views the campaign as part of Washington's Greater Middle East project Iranian officials remain confident that the US will not launch a second military front while still bogged down in Iraq. "While directing the attention of the world towards Iran the US is seeking a shortcut to extract itself from the Iraqi quagmire," says Al-Husseini. The smoke screen also tends to distract attention away from the "unjust" Palestinian-Israeli settlement which, says Al- Husseini, "started in Sharm El-Sheikh earlier this month". The Americans, are also seeking to keep the Iranians busy anticipating a US strike in an attempt to tie Iran's hands as regards Hizbullah and the Iranian-Syrian-Lebanese alliance. Iran continues to refuse American provocation and last week Defence Minister Ali Shamkhani warned that any strike against Iran's nuclear facilities would draw "a swift and crushing response". On Thursday financial markets -- already jittery about the possibility of US or Israeli intervention in Iraq -- were shaken when Iranian state television reported an explosion near the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant. It cited witnesses who said the explosion might have been caused by a plane firing a missile. Later reports dropped any reference to a missile and said instead that a fuel tank might have fallen from a plane. After the US stock market dropped Iranian officials announced the blast was caused by contractors working on a gas pipeline. Some observers see the incident as a warning from Iran of the economic consequences of any attack on its nuclear facilities. The following day Iran and Russia announced a deal, to be signed later this month. Under the deal Russia will supply nuclear fuel for the Bushehr reactor. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia was convinced Iran has no intention of developing atomic weapons. The US, believes Howeidy, is walking a tight rope with Iran. Nearly a million Iranians of Iraqi origin have returned to Iraq. They are, says Howeidy, a ticking bomb as far as US troops in Iraq are concerned, "in case event that the US strikes Iran, the sleeping cells will be ready to strike the US forces in Iraq."
