Iran Times

For U.S. policymakers, the Islamic Republic of Iran continues to pose a dilemma because of the unpredictability of the problem on one hand, and the invariability of available U.S. policy instruments on the other. While the Iranian threat has been perennial, Tehran’s internal political dynamics and its external conduct have evolved considerably, and unexpectedly. Although Iran’s challenge has grown more complicated over the years, the landscape of U.S. policy options has remained consistent-and frustratingly limited-for most of the past three decades.
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Unilateral Nature

Despite its recurrent reliance on economic sanctions over the past 30 years, Washington has received relatively minimal cooperation from even its closest allies. Even at the height of the hostage crisis, the United States’ closest European allies rebuffed U.S. entreaties to join in multilateral sanctions against Iran’s revolutionary regime, and eventually enacted only limited restrictions on trade. In fact, as Tehran’s enmity toward Washington became entrenched, European trade with the revolutionary regime actually expanded during the hostage crisis, and the modest penalties imposed by Europe were lifted as soon as the hostages were released.⁹ Since those early years, European concerns about Iranian foreign policy have yet to be matched by any parallel willingness to formally abrogate its historic economic ties. In particular, Germany has proven loathe to relinquish its longstanding trade ties, although the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel has sought to align her Iran policy more closely with London, Paris, and Washington.
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China urged other powers on Tuesday to show more flexibility in dealing with Iran’s disputed nuclear programme, playing down prospects of sanctions after six countries met to discuss the standoff.
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Gates calls on international community to pressure Iran to drop nuclear program.
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Iran’s Ahmadinejad orders production of higher-enriched uranium.

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Clinton says no prisoner swap with Iran, detained Americans should be freed immediately.
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Italy’s Berlusconi tells Israeli parliament world cannot accept a nuclear-armed Iran.
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UN nuclear chief says he hopes for Iran’s agreement on plan to export uranium

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US secretary of state warns Beijing it risks disruption to its energy supplies unless it helps keep Islamic Republic from developing nuclear weapons.
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Iranian hard-line cleric says more members of the opposition should be executed.
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Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said he met with a French government representative to discuss a uranium-exchange deal, the ISNA news agency reported Friday.
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A senior U.S. official said on Friday that a UN-backed uranium swap deal is “still on the table” for Iran, and denied the Obama administration is to circulate a draft resolution on sanctions toward Iran this week in the United Nations.
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Iran is the world’s “center of terror” which seeks to impose its will on the Middle East, President Shimon Peres said Tuesday during a historic visit to Berlin.
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Senior Iranian opposition figure Mehdi Karoubi said on Tuesday he would keep up the fight for new elections in Iran after saying this week he recognises President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as head of government.

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February was a crucial month for United Nations in pushing toward sanctions on Iran for its controversial nuclear program, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday, after talking with visiting Israeli President Shimon Peres.
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Iran says the Obama administration has been pursuing his predecessor’s foreign policy approaches, insisting the US policies have not “changed” whatsoever.
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Iran’s supreme leader accused the United States Tuesday of trying to use the Internet as a tool to confront the Islamic Republic, declaring that such a policy only showed Washington’s frustration.
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The West has long been suspicous of Iran’s nuclear program. SPIEGEL has obtained new documents on secret tests and leadership structures that call into question Tehran’s claims to be exclusively interested in the peaceful use of the technology.
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