"Rarely have the reports of international fact-finders, views of the NGOs and public opinion been as ignored as before the invasion of Iraq in March 2003". So said Dr Hans Blix at the Institute of European Affairs in Dublin yesterday, speaking on the subject of how to free the world of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. He underlined that the one important lesson to draw from the Iraq tragedy is that international professional inspection was an important tool in the search for truth.
It is a subject Dr Blix knows all too well from his experience as the chief United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq three years ago, when his advice that more time was needed to assess whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction was disregarded by the coalition led by the United States. As he put it yesterday: "The world was told that the invasion would lead to the 'moment of truth'. It did, and the truth was that there were no weapons of mass destruction!"
His remarks remain extraordinarily apposite as the world faces into a similar crisis over Iran's nuclear programme. Today, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, meets Iran's senior nuclear security official, Mr Ali Larijani to continue negotiations held over the weekend. Reports that Iran is willing to suspend nuclear enrichment for the duration of the talks has encouraged speculation that a breakthrough is imminent. This is based on an emerging majority sentiment among Iran's leaders that it is better to explore the offers already made on its energy, economic and political security than to risk an escalation of conflict involving UN sanctions. Such a confrontation would encourage those who want to see regime-change in Iran to contemplate a military strike against its nuclear facilities. That option remains active in Washington despite the difficulties in Iraq.
Dr Blix's advice to the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs that sanctions on Iran would be premature before negotiations are properly conducted is sound. So is his view that telling them to "behave themselves" reflects a neo-colonialist attitude. As intelligent negotiators, it suits the Iranians to explore and exploit tensions between the five members of the Security Council plus Germany and between European and US attitudes.
That does not excuse Iran from treating these negotiations with the utmost seriousness. The issue has dragged on too long and is now ripe for resolution or escalation. That can only be decided in detailed talks. If a commitment is made to suspend nuclear enrichment while talks continue, Iran should encourage international trust by allowing effective inspections to verify that this is true.