Brent Scowcroft on Iranian Nuclear Program

In the Spring 2006 issue of The National Interest, Brent Scowcroft, national security advisor to Presidents Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush, made "A Modest Proposal" regarding the Iran nuclear situation. Scowcroft wrote:

“The permanent five members of the Security Council should be prepared to make the following offer to Iran. Acknowledging that Tehran has every right to exploit nuclear energy for civilian use, Iran should be guaranteed an adequate supply of nuclear fuel for its reactors (under a use-and-return system such as that proposed by Russia) in return for abiding by all IAEA regulations. This, in turn, should serve as the basis for a new international fuel-cycle regime that applies to all countries. Any approach to stemming nuclear proliferation that singles out specific countries--such as the Bush Administration is doing with Iran--is not likely to succeed.”