Another Voice of Sanity: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

The Voice of America carried a story this week that began: “Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that the United States has no problem with Iran’s Bushehr nuclear reactor because the power plant’s Russian uranium fuel will be returned after it is used. The Bushehr plant, which has been under construction for many years, is now being loaded with fuel.”

A rational and sane response which reflects the public position of the Islamic Republic of Iran from the beginning that they have no interest in developing a nuclear weapons arsenal. What if we simply celebrated and restated that position each time we were drawn to make some comment on the question of nuclear weapons and Iran? A global awareness and affirmation that Iran has no interest in a nuclear weapons program would be likely to do a great deal more to constrain any pressure in that direction than repeated threats of retaliation if there were ever any evidence of efforts to develop a nuclear bomb.

President Regan was famous for using the Russian proverb, “trust but verify”, to signal an appreciation of the value of a positive posture of trust in working toward peace. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggests this administration may also be moving in this direction in its diplomacy. And it appears that we still trust the Russians to protect a shared commitment to containing nuclear proliferation.