From Chinese Press

Iranian nuclear issue: Sanctions vs. negotiation

(People's Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-07 13:18

On July 1, US President Barack Obama signed the Iran Sanction Act, legislation approved by the US Senate and House of Representatives in quick succession on June 24.

The act imposed tough sanctions "striking at the heart of the Iranian government's ability to fund and develop its nuclear program," Obama said.

The new sanctions, reckoned to be the toughest ones ever passed by the US Congress, were directed at energy and financial sectors, the lifeblood of Iran.

The American Senate and House have repeatedly passed unilateral sanction bills against Iran since mid-October of last year. The United States held that Resolution 1929, which the UN Security Council adopted on June 9, only targeted the nuclear sector in Iran and could not make the country yield. Therefore, the United States decided to continue to impose a strong and broad-based new set of sanctions on Iran.

The new set of sanctions illustrates the Obama administration's hard-line policy on Iran. When he took office, Obama stressed the importance of solving Iran's nuclear issue through dialogues. Like the tough measures former President Bush had taken, the conciliatory approach Obama proposed aimed at persuading Iran to completely abandon its nuclear activities. But later he followed the beaten track of imposing sanctions as the Iranian nuclear issue came to a deadlock.

For Iran, 80 percent of government revenue depends on oil exports, which means the energy sector is of vital importance to the country's economy and people's livelihood. The energy facilities in Iran are backward and need immediate investment. Some reports say foreign investment for energy development in Iran declined from 4.2 billion US dollars to 1.5 billion US dollars during Ahmadinejad's first term in office.

The United States' new sanctions on Iran aim to make Iran feel the pain and force it to make concessions on its nuclear program. Some US congressmen said the new unilateral sanction bill was the biggest hope to force Iran to abandon its nuclear activities. However, sanctions could hardly force Iran to make any concessions on some key issues concerning its nuclear activities.

US sanctions on Iran date back to 30 years ago, but they never affected Iran's policy making. Iran is determined to develop nuclear energy and that has deep political and security background. So far, the nuclear plan has become a national policy concerning Iran's national dignity and long-term development. Faced with the prolonged economic sanctions and blockade, Iran expanded cooperation with foreign countries with its advantages, and promoted research and development in military and energy fields.

The White House hopes to bring Iran back to the negotiation table with the tough sanctions. But even Americans are not aware of whether it will push forward the negotiation or make Iran even more determined on its nuclear activities.