Peaceful solutions possible to Iran nuclear issue, retired envoy says

No, but I believe that with reinforced control and some basic rules, some clear-cut commitments from Iran, it is very possible for this country to continue producing low-enriched uranium without any ambiguity. It would be clear that low-enriched uranium could not be diverted to be further enriched for military use, at least without the international community being aware of it in ample time.

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What advice would you give about dealing with the Iranians?

I believe that it is very important, and this has never been done before, to have a team of full-time negotiators, not an envoy to the Middle East dealing with too many other problems. The chief negotiator should be a good technician on nuclear matters or be surrounded by good experts because the heart of the negotiation is technical.

The Iranians are ready, I'm sure, to put full-time negotiators on the other side of the table, and one should be able to do the same.

Second point, one has to understand and accept Iranians' insistence to visibly put the negotiations on an equal footing. And from there, we have to create confidence, personal trust between the people around the table.

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What would a deal look like?

For instance, the Iranians have said that they were ready not to enrich uranium beyond 5%. That's not enough, but it is a start.

The goal would be to build around the enrichment activity a safety fence of checks and controls. If one comes close to the fence and touches it, one of its many little alarm bells is bound to ring.

Another guarantee would be not to keep the low-enriched uranium produced in [the nuclear facility near] Natanz in its gaseous or liquid state but to transform it as soon as possible into . . . fuel rods used in nuclear power plants.

And, of course, there should be some relation between the amount of low-enriched uranium produced by Iran and the actual needs of its nuclear power plants. As long as Iran does not possess at least two or three active nuclear power plants, there is no use having an enrichment unit of 50,000 centrifuges, as announced by the Iranian president.

We have to explain to them that this is the unavoidable entrance fee to the club of legitimate, respectable nuclear nations. Iran is interested in belonging to such a club. So they are not asking Iran to do something that they have not accepted themselves.

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Do you think such a deal would be acceptable to Israel?

Perhaps the Israelis won't be very happy if the negotiation builds up along such a track. But it would be difficult for them to launch a [military] strike [against Iranian nuclear facilities] if the international community -- the U.S., Europe, etc. -- is on the way toward a compromise with the Iranians.

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daragahi@latimes.com