MICHELE NORRIS, Host:
As NPR's Mike Shuster explains, in the past, when these negotiations broke down, a feeling of panic set in, but not this time.
MIKE SHUSTER: Not possible, said Catherine Ashton, the European Union's director of foreign policy, after the talks broke up on Saturday.
CATHERINE ASHTON: We had hoped to have a detailed and constructive discussion of those ideas, but it became clear that the Iranian side was not ready for this, unless we agreed to preconditions relating to enrichment and sanctions. Both these preconditions are not a way to proceed.
SHUSTER: Iranian leaders tried to put the best face on the process. Although it was apparent Iran went into the talks with little desire to reach agreement, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a speech on Sunday, proclaimed that he believes progress is achievable.
MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD: (Speaking foreign language)
SHUSTER: Before, it seemed that Iran was making progress in expanding its uranium enrichment program nearly every day - but not so lately. Before, it seemed the only options for action to pressure Iran were diplomacy or war. Now, says David Albright, director of the Institute for Science and International Security, a whole range of actions has emerged between the two extremes, most of them apparently successful covert operations.
DAVID ALBRIGHT: Much more aggressive actions by intelligence agencies to disrupt Iran's attempts to buy things illegally overseas, agencies focus on disrupting their smuggling networks. They have killed Iranian nuclear scientists. They appear to have launched a pretty successful cyber attack against Iran's enrichment plant. It wasn't a knockdown punch, but it sure sends a signal to Iran that we can get you whenever we want.
SHUSTER: So the U.S. and Europe may be content to wait and see what Iran might do, despite a lack of progress in the current talks. That's the view of Leonard Spector of the Martin Center for Non-Proliferation Studies.
LEONARD SPECTOR: Well, I'm not too concerned, because I think the whole dynamics of these talks has shifted over the last year, year and a half, from the point where we originally were the ones that were very anxious to see progress. And now I have a feeling the Iranians may eventually be the ones that are looking for a way out because the circumstances have changed a bit.
SHUSTER: Mike Shuster, NPR News.