Prof Aijaz Ahmad, well known political analyst comments on the standoff between Iran and the U.S. over nuclear enrichment.

 Iran is willing to satisfy the UN and send its uranium abroad for further enrichment, the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, told state television last night.

The war drums are out in Washington, with the same people beating them as did for the last Iraq war. Even the excuses are same: nuclear weapons in Iran. The missing WMD's in Iraq have not daunted their spirit one bit.

Does anyone remember all the lies that they were told by President Bush and the “mainstream media” about the grave threat to America from weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? These lies were repeated endlessly in the print and TV media despite the reports from the weapons inspectors, who had been sent to Iraq, that no such weapons existed.

China today maintained its opposition to further sanctions on Iran, disrupting western attempts to present a united front at a critical meeting next week.

Iran has told the U.N. nuclear watchdog that it has a second uranium enrichment plant under construction, a belated disclosure sure to heighten Western fears of a stealthy Iranian quest for nuclear arms capability.