Nuclear talks between Iran and the super powers will resume this coming Tuesday in Kazakhstan. Based on the "seriousness" Iran displayed during the previous three rounds of negotiations in 2012 held in Istanbul, Baghdad and Moscow, the superpowers can skip sending a delegation and send Borat instead. At least then we could take solace in the fact that it isn't only the Iranians making a mockery of the talks. The problem is that the story of Iran's nuclear program isn't the slightest bit funny. A classified report by the International Atomic Energy Agency revealed Thursday determines that Iran, despite the prohibitions and sanctions imposed against it by the international community, is continuing to enrich uranium to levels of 20 percent. It is also expanding its uranium stockpile. By doing so the Islamic Republic is making long strides toward a nuclear weapon, or at the very least toward the ability to make one if it decides to do so. The world prohibits Iran from enriching uranium, and in Tehran they take this so much to heart that they have gone ahead and installed advanced centrifuges to expedite the enrichment process three to five times faster. The IAEA report from November already touched on the "military aspects" of Iran's nuclear program, and was based on measures Iran has taken in recent years showing that the purpose of its nuclear program is indeed a military one. In November the world received the smoking gun it was looking for. Not much has changed though. The dialogue continues onward. It's not a surprise that officials in Jerusalem are worried. With every new generation of reports we see that our enemy is rising to destroy us and no sanctions have yet proven effective. One needs to understand that Iran has a model to follow North Korea. The ayatollah regime has seen how oppressive regimes such as Saddam Hussein's in Iraq and Gadhafi's in Libya, which sought nuclear weapons but failed to acquire them, have disappeared from the Earth. However, the brutal Pyongyang regime has succeeded in crossing the hurdle regardless of the sanctions and prohibitions facing it and now has its survival insurance. Just like Iran, North Korea has ignored the world: One of those countries (to our luck) is still enriching uranium while the other (North Korea), has already tested three nuclear weapons since 2006. The Iranians, just like the North Koreans, see their nuclear program as a survival project. The spokesman for France's deputy foreign minister said the world powers would be coming to Kazakhstan with new offers in the hope that Iran exhibits seriousness. Iran, for its part, won't budge as long as the world doesn't recognize its right to enrich uranium. Does anyone really expect Iran especially prior to its presidential elections in June to do a U-turn in regards to its nuclear program? There is a greater chance of Tehran turning the talks into a joke than doing a U-turn. And this is exactly why the superpowers can send Borat. For talks with Iran you don't need anyone else.
