Bring Us . . . A Shrubbery!

But not too expensive. (Hat tip: TC.)

The reward to Iran for renewing its pledge to refrain from developing nuclear weapons came swiftly Thursday; Tehran won approval to begin talks aimed at membership in the World Trade Organization.

The European Union has been telling Iran that the 25-nation bloc would support Iranian membership in the WTO if Tehran keeps its nuclear program within bounds. The EU also has told Iran it can expect economic and technical cooperation.

Translation: Cha-ching!

The foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana met for three hours with Iranian negotiators Wednesday in Geneva under an implied threat that Tehran could be hauled before the U.N. Security Council to face possible international sanctions over its nuclear program.

AIEEEE!! An implied possibility of a possibly strongly-worded resolution!

"Iran has for its part reaffirmed its commitment not to seek to develop nuclear weapons," Straw told reporters. "The freeze of the enrichment program will continue until Saturday an agreement is reached."
. . .
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said, however, that the Europeans never had to resort to threats. "I'm happy that it didn't come to that," Fischer said.

Goodness, no, we wouldn't want to threaten anyone with missiles that can almost reach Munich.

UPDATE: Oh yeah. One more thing: Iran warns latest nuclear deal could still unravel.

Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani warned on Thursday an agreement with the European Union on Wednesday to provide a two-month breathing space in nuclear talks could still unravel if Iran’s leadership objects.

"We told them (the EU) we neither reject your proposal nor accept it," Rohani told state television the day after talks with the foreign ministers of Britain, Germany and France appeared to avert a major showdown over Iran’s nuclear plans.

"We will take it to Tehran and if it is acceptable to Tehran then we can discuss it and finalize the talks. But it might be totally unacceptable to Tehran," he added.

Meanwhile, Geostrategy reports that Iran is ready to rock, now that the Norks have kindly provided a big fat shipment of plutonium.

U.S. intelligence officials have told President Bush news that has left him stunned: Iran has completed all of the elements required for an atomic bomb. . . . The development suggests Iran now has the capability to launch a missile tipped with a nuclear warhead.

"It's an incredible piece of intelligence that overshadows everything we thought we knew on Iran's nuclear program," one U.S. intelligence source said. . . . The CIA, while dismayed by Iranian efforts, was confident that Teheran needed at least another three years to assemble a nuclear bomb.

Instead, the entire Iranian uranium enrichment effort appears to have concealed a much more immediate aim. The clerical regime in Teheran did not plan to wait several years for a nuclear option and obtained plutonium and components from North Korea.

How many nuclear warheads could Iran produce immediately? The CIA has learned that Iran could assemble several nuclear warheads for the Shihab-3 arsenal. This means that U.S. forces in Iraq and southern Europe are under immediate Iranian threat. Israel and Saudi Arabia are already under Iranian nuclear threat.

In 1994, the CIA obtained the first reports of Iran obtaining plutonium components from North Korea. But the latest information comes from a new and far more reliable source.

Great. It's the Soviets on crack.