Ankara, Washington singing different tune on Iran row

US Ambassador Glyn Davies, the permanent representative of the United States to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), had talks at the Foreign Ministry in Ankara on Monday. Following his talks with Ambassador Ünal Çeviköz, the deputy undersecretary of the Turkish Foreign Ministry for the Caucasus and Central Asia, Davies took part in a roundtable meeting with academics, foreign diplomats accredited to Turkey and journalists organized by the International Strategic Research Organization (USAK) and moderated by USAK head Sedat Laçiner.

Davies’ visit to the Turkish capital came only days ahead of a regular meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors scheduled to be held in Vienna on Monday when the IAEA’s new chief, Yukiya Amano, is expected to present his first report on Iran’s nuclear program.

US President Barack Obama took a risk when he extended “an outstretched hand” to Tehran last March, but Iran still doesn’t seem to be willing to take any risk as there is no signal or symbol which would prove that its nuclear program is “peaceful,” Davies said at the roundtable meeting.

While underlining more than once the US’s appreciation for the role being played by Turkey by pursuing a diplomatic solution to the Iran nuclear row, Davies was, however, tight-lipped when asked whether he was satisfied with the Turkish side’s explanations of why it is still optimistic about finding a diplomatic solution to the dispute without resorting to any sanctions for its neighbor.

“We’re absolutely convinced of Turkey’s sincerity. Turkish officials have been clear, open, transparent and helpful in explaining what was said in Tehran to Mr. Davutoğlu,” Davies said, referring to a Feb. 16 visit to Tehran by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.

“I’m not going to criticize Turkish optimism, that’s not my role,” Davies added, calling his visit to Ankara, which was his first, a “tremendous learning experience on why Turkish officials are taking the steps that they are taking.”

Last Thursday, on the day when the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said it feared Tehran may develop a nuclear-armed missile, during a meeting with US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs William J. Burns, Davutoğlu “conveyed his impression that the Iranian side is eager to continue negotiations, that the diplomatic channel is functioning and that there is need for insisting on the resolution of the issue within the framework of diplomacy,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Özügergin had said.

“I wasn’t here for negotiations, and I’m not going to negotiate,” Davies said in response to persistent questions as to whether an offer on the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) was part of his talks in Ankara and whether it was still on the table according to Washington, while, nonetheless, echoing the White House view that Iran “cannot replace and continue to operate the TRR at its current pace” because it will run out of the type of isotopes that are needed for medical treatment.

Russia, China, the UK, France, Germany and the US, collectively known as the P5+1, had offered to enrich Iranian uranium supplies to 20 percent for use in the TRR through the IAEA. The deal would have helped to allay international concerns that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons under the cover of its civilian program while providing the country with fuel for its nuclear reactors.

“Our president said from the very beginning that we would have an outstretched hand. That remains the case. We have a two-track policy; it is engagement and pressure. We are now very seriously looking at the pressure track. We have to because of our conclusions about what the Iranians have been doing. [It] doesn’t mean that we won’t always be open to finding constructive ways to deal with them,” Davies said.