Iran Ready to Deal?

Could it be?

The head of the world's atomic energy watchdog said Iran and world powers have until Friday to approve a proposed deal to transfer most of Iran's nuclear material abroad to be reformatted for medical purposes.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei disclosed no details about the draft deal, hammered out over 2 1/2 days of talks between Iranian, American, French and Russian diplomats in Vienna.

But he said that it reflected a "balanced approach" that would help Iran fuel a medical research reactor for diagnosing and treating cancer while building confidence to resolve long-standing suspicions about the nature of Tehran's nuclear ambitions [...]

Iran said it would take the proposal back to Tehran for consideration.

You mean negotiation and diplomacy can triumph over militarism and threats? Well, waddaya know.

Michael Adler at the Daily Beast has more on what went down.

As Dylan Matthews at Tapped pointed out, it's not as comprehensive a deal as the one hammered with North Korea and details like who will cover the shipment expenses can be tricky.

However, I agree with Laura Rozen:

If implemented, such a plan would conceivably put several months back on the clock to try to resolve international concerns about Iran's nuclear program. The deal seemingly offers Iran the appearance of de facto international recognition of its enrichment program, if not acceptance. It also gives Iran and world powers a chance to see if the other comes through on their side of the deal.

Technorati Tags: elbaradei, diplomacy, iaea, iran, obama, uranium

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