The delegations have not even left for Istanbul yet and Iran is already taking all the steam out of nuclear talks with the West, which are scheduled to begin in Turkey at the end of the week. After rejecting the West's demands outright decommissioning the nuclear facility at Qom and suspending uranium enrichment on Iranian soil they have now begun firing in all directions: They claim that they've exposed an Israeli terror squad; they announced plans to discontinue the export of oil to Spain and Greece, and, in the future, to Italy and Germany as well. In general, the sanctions imposed on Iran by the European Union do not phase them one bit. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad boasted on live television on Tuesday that his country would fare very well even if it doesn't sell oil for a year or two. Every news broadcast in the country led with his remarks. That is how the Iranians create a "positive" atmosphere ahead of the nuclear talks. Even Turkey, which will host the talks, wasn't spared. In January 2011, ahead of the previous round of nuclear talks, the two countries still managed to present some kind of united front, even if it was artificial. Those were the days prior to the terrible conflict in Syria. These days, Turkey and Iran are taking the gloves off, mainly due to Ankara's hostile attitude toward the Syrian regime, which Iran supports. An Iranian member of parliament published an article in the Tehran Times newspaper, which is popular among foreign diplomats stationed in Iran, in which he wondered about "Turkey's pure intentions" in hosting the talks. The parliament member also a member of the U.N. Security Council and the parliament's foreign affairs committee wrote that Turkey's policies, in light of recent changes in the Arab world, were "fragile and unstable" and, anyway, the West has no objection to holding the talks in Iraq instead, as the Iranians have suggested. The Iranians have always been exemplary at making things go away, even back when they were called the Persians. Patience and cunning are part of the Persian diplomatic tradition. When it comes to the nuclear talks, not only will they discuss and discuss for hours on end without achieving any conclusions (let us recall the endless hours they spent in prayer during the last round as part of their spiteful campaign), even the venue of the talks is being discussed to death, as though the world is nothing but a Persian bazaar. The various Iranian media outlets tried to explain on Tuesday why Iraq would be a more adequate venue for the talks following the warm welcome Iraq extended to the Arab summit in March - and why the delegations would be transferred to Iraq once the Ankara talks showed promise. Meanwhile, they are buying time. Iran does not plan on giving anyone any gifts this weekend, certainly not the Turks. The Iranians are already, very skillfully, turning the nuclear talks from money time to garbage time.
