Europe's Failure to Appease in Tehran

With recent revelations that Europe's negoatiations with Iran are about to completely fail, is anyone surprised?

Have the Germans, British and French - the European Union's chief negotiators - misjudged Iran's willingness to compromise?...

For Fischer, it was also a great political chance. All of sudden, he was no longer just another mediator among many, like in the conflict in the Middle East. In one swoop, he stood right in the middle. Iran was his conflict. If he could convince Tehran to compromise, he would celebrate a historic success. Should he fail -- as it now seems he has -- his legacy would include a massive defeat....

And the truth is, the Iranians are as little concerned about a nuclear attack from France and Britain as they are about a European military invasion. Tehran is more worried that the US and Israel could act on their cloaked threats and attack Iranian nuclear plants. The fear isn't totally unfounded. On orders from U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, the Pentagon has been working on plans for air attacks using conventional and nuclear weapons for a long time. The military is already simulating how to bring Teheran down through air attacks, commando operations and the use of ground troops. Even Israel has said it would "not tolerate" Iran building the bomb.... Der Spiegel