Bush blinks
Bush Seeking Ways to Reward Allies on Iran
By Sonni Efron and Alissa J. Rubin
Times Staff Writers
3:58 PM PST, February 28, 2005
WASHINGTON In what could herald an important shift in U.S. policy, President Bush is considering ways to support the European allies who are offering Iran incentives in exchange for Tehran halting its nuclear programs, the White House said today.
But U.S. officials were noncommittal about how far the president was prepared to go to engage the theocratic Iranian regime that Bush once labeled part of an "axis of evil."
"The president is considering ideas that were discussed last week in Europe for moving forward on our efforts to get Iran to end its pursuit of nuclear weapons and abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
Among the specific incentives that were discussed during President Bush's trip to France and Germany this month were allowing Iran to join the World Trade Organization and have access to spare aircraft parts, or possible aircraft sales, to replace Iran's aging commercial fleet, a European diplomat said.
In the past, the Bush administration has argued that Iran should not be bribed with economic and political incentives to abide by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which it signed. U.S. officials have also pointedly refused to endorse or take part in the negotiations by Britain, France and Germany, which have been negotiating with Iran to provide economic incentives in exchange for Tehran halting its uranium enrichment.
But the EU 3, as the three European nations are called, have been increasingly vocal in arguing that no deal can be reached with the Iranians without at least tacit U.S. support. Moreover, they have argued that even if the negotiations with Iran fail, it is better for the United States to have done everything possible to reach a diplomatic solution lest it later be accused of being a spoiler.
