Iran: no change

Two contrasting articles took my attention this past week (oh, and a happy new year to you too). Contrasting because of the six-day gap between them. The first refers to Iran's proclamation 28 December that they would, after all, consider Russia's offer to enrich uranium (for their 'peaceful program') on Russian soil. And the second article, published today, announces that, actually, they'd rather not go ahead with the plan, but maybe some other (as yet unnamed) elements of the nuclear program could be processed in Russia.

So far, so predictable. An offer a tantalising glimpse of a possible compromise, just enough to keep the Europeans talking, then a withdrawal to a hard line stance. More interesting, however, were reports in the German media indicating that US envoys were seeking political support in Iran's neighbourhood for a strike. As Ha'aretz rightly points out, these reports are ideal for pressuring the Iranians into a compromise. As such they were probably created for that very purpose. Since the program is not an easy hit (many facilities spread over a massive area, with enough uranium floating around for a severe environmental catastrophe), and Iran is still at least a decade away from attaining a nuclear weapon, a strike still isn't likely any time soon.