JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People

Iran’s ‘praposel’

By Uriel Heilman · July 22, 2008

Here's the proposal Iran offered at nuclear talks in Geneva: A lot more talking.

The Iranian proposal, "The Modality for Comrehensive Negotiations (None paper)," was riddled with spelling errors, elicited laughs from the Russian deputy foreign minister and dismay from the U.S. secretary of state, according to The New York Times.

The paper proposed seven more meetings, but no talk of halting uranium enrichment.

"Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Iran on Monday that it could not continue to 'stall' and she warned of more sanctions if it defied a two-week deadline to accept the proposal," the report said.

Meanwhile, the Times' Helene Cooper suggests that the White House's approach to Iran, a member of the so-called axis of evil, is schizophrenic:

A senior administration official described the Iran policy as "erratic," while a European diplomat said, "It does seem a bit schizophrenic."

Abbas Milani, an Iran expert at Stanford University who has advised the Bush administration, echoed the sentiment. "I don't understand what they're doing," Mr. Milani said. Ms. Rice's "provocative acts and words" on Monday could derail any chance that Iran's leaders might reward the Bush concession on talks by suspending uranium enrichment, he said...

Some national security hawks have been sharply critical of the latest moves toward Iran and North Korea.

"The metaphor to look at is intellectual collapse," said John R. Bolton, the Bush administration's former ambassador to the United Nations. "It's not even a carefully staged retreat. Instead, it's just a sign to the Iranians that toward the end of the administration, they're desperate to sign deals."