U.S. and Iran: A timeline of recent events
Posted: Saturday, July 26, 2008 12:44 PM by Daily Nightly Editor
By Robert Windrem, NBC Senior Investigative Producer and Garrett Haake, Researcher
Editor's note: On Monday, July 28, Nightly News will broadcast live from Tehran, Iran, where Brian Williams will conduct an exclusive interview with President Ahmadinejad.
In the past six weeks, the U.S. has sent a number of unmistakable signals to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of its willingness to negotiate a broad range of issues, all within the context of resolving the main issue of Iran's nuclear weapons capability. Iran has responded to some of these signals. But on Saturday, Ahmadinejad pushed the back-and-forth a step further when he announced that Iran now possesses 6,000 centrifuges, a significant increase in the number of uranium-enriching machines in its nuclear program. Given that some in the U.S. government believe the Iranians are trying to gain an advantage on the Bush administration -- looking for one last success, one important legacy -- it’s a step the U.S. might well see as one step too far, and one likely to engender a political debate both here and abroad.
Below is a timeline of recent exchanges:
May 13: The Iranian Foreign Minister Manucher Mottaki wrote the foreign ministers of the so-called P5+1 (US, UK, Russia, China, France and Germany) that Iran believes there is need for “a new and a more advanced plan for interaction,” a “comprehensive agreement” that includes a variety of issues encompassing “economic, technological, commercial—especially energy—cooperation, that provide other excellent possibilities and avenues for constructive cooperation.”
May 14: Speaking at a think tank event, Robert Gates said: “We need to figure out a way to develop some leverage with respect to the Iranians and then sit down and talk with them. If there's going to be a discussion, then they need something, too. We can't go to a discussion and be completely the demander with them not feeling that they need anything from us.”
June 12: The P5+1 responds, noting the “growing tension and mistrust,” and offer a proposal for a “broad based negotiation,” saying they are “prepared to discuss political and economic issues as well as issues regarding regional security.” What makes the response particularly significant, say analysts, is that Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice signed the letter. In effect, it was the first step toward bringing the U.S. into broad, multi-lateral discussions with Iran that go beyond nuclear issues.
June 23: The AP reports that U.S .is considering the establishment of an interests section in Tehran.
June 30: ABC reports the possibility of an Israeli attack on Iran is increasing, citing the Israeli military exercise off Greece in mid-June. In response, NBC is offered an interview with the Iranian Foreign Minister Manucher Mottaki in New York.
July 1: In an interview with NBC’s Richard Engel interview, the Foreign Minister Mottaki notes that Iran will not make a distinction between an attack by Israel and an attack by the United States, but in the same interview, Mottaki also sounds a conciliatory note by noting that the Iranian government has proposed direct flight between the countries and that Iran would “examine” a proposal for a U.S. interest section in Tehran. Later that same day, while meeting with American journalists at the UN Mission, Mottaki signaled there might be more flexibility in negotiations when he repeatedly refused to reassert that Iran had a right to enrich uranium. Mottaki said, “It is possible to write that the foreign minister did not make a comment on the question of enrichment. We saw potential for the beginning of a new round of negotiations.” The response mystified the U.S.
July 2: In nearly back-to-back press conferences, President Bush and Adm. Mike Mullen each underscore the importance of diplomacy in dealing with Iran and its nuclear ambitions. Asked if he would discourage an Israeli attack on Iran, Bush responded, “I have made it very clear to all parties that the first option ought to be solve this problem diplomatically.”
Mullen was more direct. “Opening up a third front right now would be extremely stressful for us,” he said, referring to the prospect of a direct clash with Iran while fighting continues in Iraq and Afghanistan. “This is a very unstable part of the world, and I don’t need it to more unstable.”
July 4: The USS Lincoln leaves the Persian Gulf for the northern Arabian Sea. The Pentagon states the Lincoln is needed to run operations against Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan, but the U.S. does not replace the Lincoln, leaving the Gulf without a carrier for the first time since 1991.
July 4: Iran responds formally to the international incentive package provided the Iranians in June. Mottaki says Iran is willing to open negotiations on broad issues with the P5+1 but does not address any of the six nations’ concerns about the Iranian nuclear program. It did criticize UN Security Council sanctions against Iran as “illegal”.
July 7: The State Department confirms that it has approved the Iranian Basketball Association request to have the Iranian National Basketball Team participate in the NBA’s Rocky Mountain Revue, July 19-21.
July 8: Ahmadinejad tells reporters in Kuala Lumpur, "Don't worry, there won't be any war in the future." He went on to say that the threat of a U.S. attack was receding as President Bush winds down his term. “Previously, it would have been considered a serious issue,'' the Iranian leader said. “The Bush era has come to an end. He is not in a situation to change circumstances in his favor…the threats are a joke.”
July 9: Iran test-fires a series of missiles. The exact number remains in dispute, but is somewhere between 7 and ten. Iran claims one of the missiles tested, the Shahab-3, can reach Israel. Other missiles tested include the "Hoot" torpedo. A U.S. intelligence official says the exercise is a direct response to the Israeli exercises off Greece.
Both presidential candidates respond:
Obama: "These missile tests demonstrate once again that we need to change our policy to deal aggressively with the threat posed by the Iranian regime," Mr. Obama said in a statement that called for more direct diplomacy. "Through its nuclear program, missile capability, meddling in Iraq, support for terrorism, and threats against Israel, Iran now poses the greatest strategic challenge to the United States in the region in a generation."
McCain: "History shows us that when nations are embarked on paths that can jeopardize the security of the region...other actions besides diplomacy have to be contemplated and taken."
July 9: At a news conference in Georgia, Secretary Rice warns: "We will defend our interests and defend our allies." She also said, "We take very, very strongly our obligations to defend our allies and no one should be confused of that."
Agence France Presse says a photograph appearing to show four missiles being launched was digitally altered by Iranian state media. AFP presents a second photograph showing only three missiles firing, and one on the ground.
July 11: Oil closes at a record high above $147 a barrel. Analysts blame part of the rising price on Iran’s actions.
July 15: President Bush authorizes Undersecretary of State William J. Burns to attend the upcoming nuclear negotiations in Geneva, which will deal with Iran's response to the P5+1 offer in June. The U.S. had no representative at the June meeting. Officials say Burns will not have private, one-on-one contact with Iranian negotiators. This is the highest level (public) diplomatic contact between the two countries since the Iranian Revolution in 1979.
July 17: Anonymous U.S. officials tell the New York Times that the Bush administration is considering opening an interests section in Tehran. The White House refuses to discuss what it called "internal deliberations." A White House spokesman tells the Times, "We are looking for ways to engage to people of Iran more, make it easier for them to get visas."
The Iranian national basketball team arrives in the US.
July 18: Foreign Minister Mottaki says Iran is open to discussing the establishment of a U.S. diplomatic presence in Tehran. "I think there can be a meeting both on the opening of a United States Interests Section in Iran and also on starting direct flights," he said in a interview on Turkish television. "We have proposed direct flights between the United States and Iran last year, given the intense demand from both American and Iranian people." Later in the same interview, Mottaki said the possibility of a joint American-Israeli attack on Iran “is zero.”
On CNN, Secretary Rice confirms Burns will attend the Geneva negotiations and
says: "Iran is a difficult and dangerous state, and it is a state that is pursuing policies that are dangerous to our friends and dangerous to international peace and stability, particularly its support for terrorism and its pursuit of this nuclear technology that could lead to a nuclear weapon. But we have been very clear that any country can change course. The United States doesn't have any permanent enemies."
July 19: Under Secretary of State Burns attends the highest level negotiations Americans have had directly with Iranians under the Bush administration. In a rare show of unity, the U.S. is joined by Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China.
Iranian officials present their "None Paper" to international negotiators. The paper calls for continued high level negotiations and fails to address any of the six-party concerns about the Iranian nuclear program. Iran also refused to accept a so-called "freeze-for-freeze" program in which Iran would halt any new nuclear activity and the U.S. and other powers would not ask for any new sanctions.
Saeed Jalili, Iran's chief negotiator, called the process a "very beautiful endeavor" with a result that he hoped would eventually be "beautiful to behold." He also suggests a “win-win” resolution.
Western parties extend a two-week formal deadline for any further response to the "freeze-for-freeze" offer.
Burns does not meet privately with Jalili.
July 20: Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen appears on Fox News Sunday and makes the following statements:
On Iran nuclear negotiations: "A few weeks ago I wouldn't have thought those were possible."
On Weapons: "I fundamentally believe that they're on a path to achieve nuclear weapons some time in the future.
On the potential for a U.S. or Israeli attack on Iran: "Right now, I'm fighting two wars and I don't need a third one."
July 21: Secretary of State Rice tells Iran it cannot continue to "stall" and warns of more sanctions if the two-week deadline passes. She tells reporters aboard her plane to Abu Dhabi that what came about through the negotiations was "not serious."
White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, when asked if Iran and North Korea are still part of an axis of evil, offered the following: "I think that until they give up their nuclear weapons programs completely and verifiably, I think that we would keep them in the same category."
July 23: Ahmadinejad praised U.S. participation in talks with Tehran on its disputed nuclear program as "a positive step" and a sign of respect by its arch foe. "I advise you not to spoil this positive step ... by using the language of colonial times and by bullying," Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech.
July 24: Gholamreza Aghazadeh, Iran’s vice president and head of Iran’s nuclear energy program, said: “Both sides have received the messages of the other side and are carefully studying the concerns and expectations of both sides."
"I am very hopeful that the negotiations will be started in a framework of both sides being fully committed to the expectations that are already there," he added.
Aghazadeh told reporters in Vienna that talks between Iran and the six powers -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany -- would also help resolve a range of issues from the Middle East tensions to rising oil prices.
July 26: In another act of defiance in the face of U.S. and other world power demands, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Iran now possesses 6,000 centrifuges, a significant increase in the number of uranium-enriching machines in its nuclear program.
