Bush Ensured Iran Offer Would Be Rejected
by Gareth Porter
Even before Iran gave its formal counteroffer to ambassadors of the P5+1 countries (the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China) Tuesday, the George W. Bush administration had already begun the process of organizing sanctions against Iran.
Washington had already held a conference call on sanctions Sunday with French, German, and British officials, the Washington Post reported.
Thus ends what appeared on the surface to be a genuine multilateral initiative for negotiations with Iran on the terms under which it would give up its nuclear program. But the history of that P5+1 proposal shows that the Bush administration was determined from the beginning that it would fail, and thus bring to a halt multilateral diplomacy on Iran’s nuclear program that the hardliners in the administration had always found a hindrance to their policy. (more…)