Ahmadinejad's unserious response to negotiations

AP/Houston Chronicle:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today that Iran would only halt its uranium enrichment program and return to negotiations if other Western nations do the same.

Ahmadinejad told a crowd of thousands in northern Iran one day ahead of a U.N. Security Council deadline that it was no problem for his country to stop, but that "fair talks" demanded a similar gesture from the West.

"That ... we shut down our nuclear fuel cycle program to let talks begin. It's no problem. But justice demands that those who want to hold talks with us shut down their nuclear fuel cycle program too. Then, we can hold dialogue under a fair atmosphere," Ahmadinejad said.

The Security Council has set Wednesday as a deadline for Iran to stop uranium enrichment or face further economic sanctions.

Ahmadinejad spoke in a far more conciliatory tone than the one he usually adopts, avoiding fiery denunciations of the West with a call for talks.

"We are for talks but they have to be fair negotiations. That means, both sides hold talks under equal conditions," he said.

...

This is an argument from a simpleton meant for simpletons. It is not a serious response. One of the reasons Iran is treated differently is that it is the only country in the world threatening to wipe another off the face of the earth. That gets people's attention. His remarks demonstrate that talking to Iran at this point is worse than talking to a fence post. At least we know the fence post is not doing anything with the time we are wasting on it.