Deja Blix

The man who was right about Iraq now talks about Iran...

World Opinion Roundup -- Jefferson Morley's Review of Opinions and Commentary on News Around the World - washingtonpost.com

In an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the now-retired Blix said he saw some similarities between the run-up to the Iraq war and the current debate on Iran. [ya think?] With Iran resuming its nuclear enrichment program, the Bush administration is again expressing fear about the nuclear ambitions of major Islamic country.

"The West is painting itself into a corner," says Blix. "They have said that Iran should refrain from all [uranium] enrichment while they are negotiating, and now they cannot negotiate with them because Iran has resumed it," he said.

The rotund Swedish politician does not dismiss Western concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions. He says it is Iran that has opted for confrontation, "hyping" and "propaganda war."

"I think that Iran felt that the offers they were given were so miserable that this was not negotiation, and so they opted on their side [to challenge Europe and the United States]. I can have some understanding for that, but this is part of the hyping, another propaganda war," he said.

Blix says he thinks the West has not offered Iran enough. Compared to what has been offered to North Korea, U.S. offers to Iran have been "rather miserable," he told RFE/RL.

Technorati Tags: Iran, Iraq, nuclear, IAEA, Hans, Blix