Mediaboss Marketing

Washington Americans are in favor of reaching a nuclear agreement with Iran. Thats the bottom line from a new Washington Post/ABC News poll, which found that 59 percent of respondents support a diplomatic deal loosening Iranian sanctions in return for restrictions on Tehrans nuclear program.

But the US public is actually not hopeful that such a deal will work as intended. By the same 59 percent margin, poll respondents said they are not confident that a diplomatic pact will keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

If nothing else, this split opinion points out the lack of trust that exists between the US and the Iranian revolutionary regime and the need for extensive international inspections of Irans nuclear activities to try and rebuild that trust. From the point of view of Washington and its negotiation partners, verification provisions will be a crucial component of any final agreement.

Because of its extensive history of cheating and making inconsistent statements [on nuclear issues], Iran is going to have to accept additional verification arrangements, says David Albright, a former International Atomic Energy Agency inspector and president of the Institute for Science and International Security.

US officials said ongoing talks between six powers and Iran could stretch into Wednesday morning, if need be.

The IAEA wants the ability to conduct very-short-notice inspections at virtually any suspect site in Iran, for instance. Right now it is generally limited to visits to declared nuclear facilities.

Yet some of those now-declared facilities were constructed, or at least begun, in secret. In 2002, an Iranian dissident group revealed to the world the presence of Irans Natanz uranium enrichment plant and Arak heavy water reactor.

Iran claims that its safeguard agreement with the IAEA did not require it to disclose those plants until they were finished. But to the US and its allies, that was an excuse made by a potential nuclear proliferator whod been caught red-handed.

Iran insists that its nuclear activities are peaceful. It says it has a right to develop uranium enrichment technology for energy purposes under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which it signed.

US intelligence has a different view, or at least has said something else in public. The consensus among American intelligence agencies is that Iran had a nuclear weapons program until 2003, when it put that effort on hold for various reasons.

Original post:
Iran nuclear talks: Could US be sure Iran will honor a ...