More Good Will For Iran

"What else is new?" one could have asked when Iran's President Mahmud Ahmedinejad announced last weekend that his country is capable of industrially enriching uranium and now belongs to the nuclear club.

But no one said that.

Instead, some saw the announcement as a new "provocation" of the West and began to speculate about when Iran's first nuclear bomb would be finished. They also started to get used to the Americans' missile shield plan.

Others, on the other hand, scoffed at the announcement. They said Iran really wasn't that far along and Ahmedinejad's speech only proved that he is a good actor.

As varied and contradictory as the reactions may be, they demonstrate yet again that the world doesn't know how to deal with Iran. Even competent experts all too often fall back on generalizations when it comes to the "Iran issue." They speak of the "Persian nuclear bomb" and try to measure just how close Tehran is to reaching this goal.

Instead, a bit more sobriety and reserve are called for. Thus far, the "goal" of an Iranian nuclear bomb has only existed in the minds of those who had always been suspicious of the regime in Tehran and the revitalization of Islam and politics that it embodied.

How else can it be explained that, although Iran has continually claimed that its atomic research is for peaceful purposes only and has belonged to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty for a long time already, it is still accused of having bad intentions? At the same time, not the slightest effort has been made to help the countries in the region that have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty -- Israel, India and Pakistan -- to find the "right path."

The imbalance of the situation becomes even more apparent when we consider that legitimate circles of experts are not even blaming Iran for enriching uranium, which is permitted under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Instead, Iran is accused of not following the resolutions of the UN Security Council, which is demanding precisely that which cannot be demanded from Iran -- the suspension of its uranium enrichment program.

Nevertheless, it is indeed a good thing that there are those who are now appealing for negotiations with Tehran. Without reciprocation, such negotiations are useless and it is unacceptable that governments are negotiating with Tehran while at the same time enforcing sanctions.

Only when the West opens up to Iran and drops its unjustified prerequisites can the tension ease. Of course, Iran may still be charged with building nuclear weapons, but it has to be granted the rights that are matter of course for other countries.

There's no guarantee that Iran won't build a nuclear bomb. But mutual trust would be a valuable contribution to detente.

Peter Philipp is a Middle East expert and Deutsche Welle's chief correspondent. (kjb)