"Among the current issues facing our government, this one has to rank extremely high," Ambassador Thomas Pickering said of nuclear non-proliferation in Iran. "It's among those challenges, in my view, that is most demanding these days of diplomacy."
Pickering, who currently serves as the Senior Vice President for International Relations at The Boeing Company, spoke Wednesday afternoon in the ASEAN Auditorium at the Fletcher School.
He has been U.S. ambassador to a long list of countries, including Jordan, Russia, and Israel, and he served as the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs from 1997 to 2000.
Stephen Bosworth, Dean of the Fletcher School, introduced Pickering after a brief welcome by Provost and Senior Vice President Jamshed Bharucha. Bosworth called Pickering a "legend in his own time."
Pickering, a graduate of Fletcher, methodically presented the situation in Iran in terms of nuclear weapons, building up to how he thinks the United States should respond.
He first touched upon the specifics of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also known as the NPT. "Non-proliferation has been a central tenet of American foreign policy since the dawn of the nuclear age," he said.
Pickering outlined Iran's argument against the NPT. Various governments across the globe, he said, claim to have information about "clandestine or covert" operations for which Iran uses nuclear power.
Pickering's speech was part of Fletcher's Charles Francis Adams Lecture Series. The lecture also inaugurated the Boston Forum, a partnership among Boston College, Boston University and the Fletcher School's Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies.
Pickering also spoke about the finer points of Iran's nuclear program; including the nation's continuous enrichment of uranium. Iran contends that "in order to have full autonomy" for fuel production, uranium enrichment is necessary, Pickering said.
Uranium enrichment can be used for other purposes besides nuclear weapons. "The more Iran insists that it needs these activities, the more the United States and other countries become suspicious of what Iran is actually doing," Pickering said.
Pickering addressed the approach he thinks the U.S. should take. Quoting former U.S. Secretary of State George Schultz, he said, "When you're in a deep hole, stop digging." Negotiations with Iran are "getting close to the bottom of a deep hole," Pickering said.
He mentioned the possibilities of a formal treaty to work towards the cessation of uranium production, a prospect unacceptable to countries that want to keep open the option to do so in the future. He also suggested internationalizing production of uranium at low levels for a civil nuclear program.
He emphasized the value of a "multilateral approach" to the situation: "I don't think a policy will succeed unless it has enhanced and broader multilateral support," he said. Pickering also stressed the importance of the U.S. joining "the EU three" - Britain, France and Germany - in their talks with Iran.
"There is always value in talking and negotiation," he said. "It should be pursued to the utmost." He believes those who think resuming talks gives Iran too much legitimacy "have missed the lessons of the past."
He discussed alternative options should negotiations fail, including breaking off trade. By planning ahead, he said, the world could prepare for being cut off from Iran's oil. "Military force should be absolutely the last resort," he said.
Pickering concluded his remarks in much the same way he began them, emphasizing the significance of this current concern. "I don't know that any of this will work, but I do know that it's an important enough issue to try," he said.
