So ultimately, the solution has to be a negotiated one: Colin Powell.

 

March 19, 2010 (Hamsayeh.Net) - Former top US official admits that no amount of sanctions or political pressures would be enough to stop the Iranians from continuing with their nuclear program development.

 

Appearing on a Bloomberg television show, former US secretary of state Colin Powell said plans to put more pressure on Iran including tough economic sanctions by the US and European allies will not succeed against a country like Iran.

 

He said Iran would soon or later cross the threshold as a nuclear power. ‘I don’t see a set of sanctions coming along that would be so detrimental to the Iranians that they are going to stop that program, so ultimately, the solution has to be a negotiated one,’ the veteran US diplomat told reporters.

 

 ‘Notice I did not say a nuclear weapon. But they are determined to have a nuclear program, notwithstanding the last six or seven years of efforts on our part to keep them from having a nuclear program,’ he added.

 

Powell’s comments contradict the current plans by the Obama administration’s to ratchet up greater economic sanctions on Iran. The US government and allies have been warned on many occasions against overplaying their usual threat of sanctions against Tehran.