'Get used to' atomic Iran

The European Union and United States should "get used to the idea of a nuclear Iran," says Tehran's lead negotiator in talks with Britain, France and Germany.

Sirus Nasseri declared Tehran simply is "not willing to consider" a permanent freeze on uranium-enrichment efforts, according to a report by the Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI.

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami told a French newspaper it was "unthinkable" Iran would relinquish its uranium enrichment program.

"The Europeans will suffer more than Iran if they decide to capitulate to U.S. pressure," Khatami recently told reporters. "The enemies will be damaged more if they decide to do something against Iran."

But Khatami also has said Iran is "ready to give formal guarantees that it will never produce nuclear arms, in return for respect for its legitimate right to possess fuel cycle plants under IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] safeguards."

Khatami insisted Iran wanted nothing more than what the international conventions had authorized, MEMRI reported.

In an interview, Nasseri said Iran will soon present its final proposal with a target date for the EU to either accept or reject it.

"We do not want confrontation, but if they cannot respond to what we believe to be rational, they can choose their own path because we are ready to flex our muscles ... ," Nasseri said.

"It is clear to me that we are walking on a knife's edge," he continued. "There is no guarantee that we will reach an agreement. What I can say with certainty is that during the negotiations we witnessed, step by step, more willingness to be flexible on the part of the Europeans. At the same time, this does not mean that they have the ability to reach an agreement with us. The EU must accept Iran's uranium-enrichment program ... ."

Iranian National Security Council Secretary Hassan Rowhani also has warned, "If [Iran-EU] negotiations fail because of the U.S. pressure and the Iranian nuclear dossier is referred to the U.N. Security Council, the region will come up against serious problems, and regional security will be jeopardized. "

Ali Akbar Salehi, former Iranian representative to the IAEA, was even more blunt.

"Europe should understand that its security is closely linked to Iran's security," he told the Iranian daily Kayhan.

Jerome Corsi, author of "Atomic Iran," contends Iran is "playing the world for a fool."

"If Iran does not intend to pursue nuclear weapons, then let's see the mullahs follow the path of South Africa," he said. "Destroy the massive centrifuge farms and the heavy water plant, whose only real purpose is to produce weapons-grade uranium and plutonium. If Iran does not intend to launch a nuclear attack on Israel, then get rid of the Shahab-3 missiles and return to the United Nations the 12 nuclear-capable cruise missiles the mullahs bought on the black market from the Ukraine."

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