Impervious Iran

Why America is powerless to stop Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
By Vivienne Walt
Posted Friday, Sept. 30, 2005, at 9:54 AM PT

For all those out there trying to coax Iran into abandoning its nuclear program, here's a suggestion: Wander down a leafy side street in north Tehran and drop in on the Petroleum Engineering and Development Co., which is charged with implementing international energy mega-deals for the Iranian government.

That's what I did earlier this year, and here's how it went: The company's deputy managing director, Ali Akhbar Vahidi Aleagha, rushed into his office late for our appointment, explaining that he'd been locked in talks all day with executives from the Chinese petroleum company Sinopec. He sounded like a man who had just come home from his dream date. "China and Iran are perfectly matched for each other," he gushed in almost accentless English, honed while studying engineering at Imperial College London. China needs energy and has lots of hard cash to spend, he said; Iran needs hard cash and has plenty of energy to sell. "It's a win-win situation."