BEIRUT — Short of the tremendous cost and risk of war, what would it take to get Iran to stop producing the nuclear material that one day could be used to build weapons?
The short answer, according to an emerging consensus among arms inspectors, diplomats and Iranian officials struggling with the issue of Iran's nuclear program, is nothing.
But that doesn't mean there's no peaceful solution to conflict over Iran's nuclear program, says Francois Nicoullaud, who served from 2001 to 2005 as Paris' envoy to Iran and has written a book about the Islamic Republic.
Nicoullaud, now retired from the foreign service and able to speak freely, says the key to a solution is for the international community to accept Iran's production of enriched uranium and for the Iranians to accept an intrusive monitoring system that would set off alarm bells if they made any move toward weaponizing their avowedly peaceful program.
The key, he said in a recent interview from Paris, is for the West to grant Iran the respect it craves and for the Islamic Republic to begin acting like a responsible member of the international community.
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What do you think of the idea of imposing a deadline on talks with Iran?
The basics of the solution could be put together quite fast. In fact, in a few weeks. Two or three months is perfectly possible -- if on both sides, especially on the Western side, people dedicated themselves to the task.
If the negotiation starts in September, very substantial progress by the end of the year can very well be a realistic goal.
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Do you think that Iran will stop its enrichment of uranium?
No, I do not think so. Frankly, nobody in Iran, even under another president, will dare to suspend the production of enriched uranium.
But what would be perhaps attainable is that, in some unspoken, unofficial way, the production could slow down and go at a leisurely pace.
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Would that be acceptable to Europe?
Europe, which up to now has been quite adamant on suspension, will most probably follow the American administration if it decides to try a short negotiation with no prerequisites like suspension of enrichment.
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If there is no suspension, and Iran continues to enrich uranium at low levels to maintain nuclear ambiguity indefinitely, is that tolerable?
