WarSclerotic

Nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany) are expected to resume on Wednesday in Baghdad. It’s safe to assume that, like the talks in Istanbul before it, this encounter will end with positive declarations from all parties. Betting agencies in London seem more excited about the return of the Greek drachma than they do about what is expected to take place in Baghdad.

The Iranians, of course, will continue to boast about their legitimate right to develop nuclear capabilities, including uranium enrichment, for peaceful purposes. The international community, meanwhile, will continue to pride itself on getting Iran back to the negotiating table, while at the same time neutralizing the rise in oil prices and increasing President Barack Obama’s chances of being re-elected. Saeed Jalili, head of the Iranian nuclear delegation, will talk about how Iran imposed its will on the world and continues to enrich uranium (even if it is only to 3.5 percent).

We must understand that the challenge for Western powers today is, essentially, how to prevent an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. And if it’s possible, then perhaps they can simultaneously prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Since the nuclear talks were renewed in Geneva on Oct. 1, 2009, Iran has behaved as if it is on equal footing with the countries it faces, and for good reason: Take, for example, the location of talks this week, Baghdad. Iran even chose that setting.

The New York Times can save itself the trouble of sending a representative to Baghdad this week. The Times’ news item on Saturday already revealed everything we can expect from the talks: The paper is impressed that, for the first time in about a decade, the U.S. is “hopeful.” It goes on to explain that the oil embargo against Iran will not be lifted, despite Tehran’s demands. Yet some relief is expected when it comes to the sale of spare parts for planes and the Iranian energy industry. The goal is to create a positive atmosphere surrounding the talks.

International Atomic Energy Agency head Yukiya Amano is departing for a trip to Iran on Sunday. Surprisingly, Tehran is going to allow nuclear inspectors to visit the military base at Parchin, the suspected site of nuclear testing, for the first time since 2009. In one way or another, this visit will allow the international community to show off that it signed an agreement with Iran. (Remember when British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain visited Nazi Germany in 1938 seeking an agreement to avoid a German invasion and the war. That deal was signed, yet Hitler crossed his fingers behind his back, and went ahead with the invasion anyway despite diplomatic efforts to stop him.)

Thirty-one years ago, Israel held a special “Shavuot night rectification” (a reference to the Shavuot tradition of staying up all night to study Torah) at the nuclear reactor near Baghdad. Now, 31 years later, Iran is working to avoid a similar “rectification” of its nuclear project. To achieve this goal, Jalili understands he must hamper Israel. The New York Times report on Saturday clarified, for anyone who has yet to understand, that this issue has already been rectified.