Letter from the Publisher

December 2007

In the month of November the International Atomic Energy Agency released its latest report on Iran to its 35 board members in which it found Tehran to be generally truthful about key aspects of its nuclear program, but it also warned that its knowledge of Iran's present atomic work was shrinking.  The major outstanding issues are Tehran's defiance of the U.N. Security Council demands to freeze uranium enrichment and to sign on to the Additional Protocols of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.  A further report is due from Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, regarding his recent dialogue with Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili.  Washington and the European Union will be pushing for further U.N. sanctions and it is in Iran's best interests to accept the demands of the international community.  Moreover, it has now become clear that prominent figures in Iran such as Shirin Ebadi are also against paying the high price of war and risking the future of the nation for a uranium enrichment program.  Ms. Ebadi along with many other professionals, writers and intellectuals in Iran have formed a group called "No War; Yes to Peace and human Rights" to counter all the radical rhetoric coming from the administration of President Ahmadinejad.  As the Chinese Foreign Minister recently suggested, given the tide of ill will that has built up in the last few years it behooves the Islamic Republic of Iran to freeze its enrichment activities now and return to the negotiating table in order to avoid further confrontation and conflict with the West, and in doing so it can regain the trust of the international community and negotiate a better deal for its basic rights to civilian nuclear energy.

The other major event that is taking place as we go to print this issue is of course the Middle East peace conference that commenced on November 27th in Annapolis, Maryland.  Around fifty governments, international organizations and financial institutions will be represented, but the most important factor is that there is full Arab support for the conference and that major players such as Saudi Arabia, the Arab League and Syria are attending.  Despite all the pessimism that surrounds the possibility of a peace accord between Israel and the Palestinian people to end this 60-year conflict, the Unites States and the main parties appear optimistic about the outcome of these talks.  If the conference produces substantively positive results, then we will see improvements not only in the lives and aspirations of the Palestinian people, but also in the crisis situations plaguing Lebanon and Iraq.  Furthermore this will help contain the rising influence of Iran in the region and provide further opportunities to promote peace and prosperity in the Middle East. If however the conference fails in producing a strong platform to launch and achieve a peace agreement, then we are going to witness further conflict in the region and beyond.  Let us hope that strong leadership along with political risk taking from all sides will finally produce the results millions of Palestinians and Israelis have been waiting for.