Shopping for a New Policy on Iran
The Obama administration has accepted a long-awaited Iranian offer to negotiate, but responded skeptically to it. It was "not really responsive to our greatest concern," Iran's nuclear program, says a State Department spokesman. Tehran proposed talks on a range of issues last week but indicated it wouldn't discuss shutting down its uranium-enrichment program. Israel has signaled an end-of-year deadline for military action, but U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice said last week that President Obama would be "taking stock" with permanent members of the U.N. Security Council (plus Germany) later this month.
Meanwhile, quarrels concerning the ultimate aim of Iran's secretive nuke program have become so heated that some U.N. officials are making comparisons to the proliferation of misinformation in the run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. In a private e-mail sent last week to nuclear experts and obtained by NEWSWEEK, Tariq Rauf, a senior official with the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, wrote that the mainstream media are repeating mistakes from 2003, when they "carried unsubstantiated stories on Iraq and WMD—the same mistakes are being repeated re IAEA and Iran." Rauf added that "the hype is likely originating from certain (known) sources." The message does not specify the sources, but U.S. and European officials have previously accused Israel of exaggerating Iran's nuclear progress. ("I think there's a growing understanding and awareness that Iran is a threat to world stability," says a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy.) Asked to elaborate on Rauf's accusation, an IAEA spokesperson says, "The comments in his e-mail were made in a private context."
Western intelligence agencies are sharing reports about Iranian efforts to acquire weapons-related technology but disagree about what they mean. Most officials doubt Tehran is pursuing nuclear technology entirely for benign purposes. Israel doubts it, too, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has signaled that his patience is limited. Rice said no one is giving up on diplomacy, adding, "We have other tools." U.S. options could include stepping up sanctions—among the senior Bush officials Obama kept on is Stuart Levey, the Treasury undersecretary who imposed tough restrictions on Iran—but the administration is likely to stall as it debates its policy.
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Mark Hosenball joined Newsweek as an investigative correspondent in November 1993, covering a range of issues for the National Affairs department. Most recently, he has written and reported numerous stories on terrorism and the Sept. 11 attacks on America. He has also covered campaign finance, the Monica Lewinsky controversy, the death of Princess Diana, Whitewater, the crashes of EgyptAir flight 990 and TWA flight 800, as well as related air safety issues.
Hosenball came to Newsweek from "Dateline NBC," where he worked as an investigative producer. He also worked extensively as a print journalist, writing for a number of British and American publications, including the London Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard, Time Out, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Republic. In addition, he has done commentaries for American Public Radio.
Hosenball has been honored with a number of prestigious awards. Most recently, along with a team of Newsweek correspondents, he was awarded the Overseas Press Club's most prestigious honor, the 2002 Ed Cunningham Memorial Award for best magazine reporting from abroad for Newsweek's coverage of the war on terror. His reporting and that of his colleagues earned Newsweek the prestigious National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2002 for its coverage of September 11 and its aftermath. And a story he co-authored was highlighted in a citation Newsweek received by the White House Correspondents' Association when it awarded the magazine the 2002 Edgar A. Poe Award for "excellence on a story of national or regional importance. "Newsweek's September 11 coverage started long before the attacks. An article in the magazine's February 19, 2001 issue warned with chilling accuracy: 'The threat posed by (Osama) bin Laden is growing -- and coming ever closer to home."
Hosenball was a contributor to the CANAL + TV documentary, "L'Argent de la Drogue" (Drug Money), which was awarded the "Sept D'Or," the French equivalent of an Emmy. He also contributed to NBC News' coverage of the BCCI scandal, which earned a 1991 Peabody Award.
He attended the University of Pennsylvania and Trinity College in Dublin. He lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife and son.
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