As the international community reels from the incendiary denials of the Holocaust by Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, Iran’s president, the rituals of diplomacy persist. After a long period of suspension, the EU-3 of France, Britain and Germany today resume their negotiations with Iran over its contested nuclear programme.

The additional twist this time is the offer of conducting part of Iran’s enrichment activities on Russian territory. However, much of the prevailing diplomacy disregards the remarkable changes that Iran’s nuclear calculations have undergone since the election of Mr Ahmadi-Nejad. Iran’s nuclear policy is increasingly predicated on a mixture of ideological imperatives and nationalistic determinations that are largely immune to threats of sanctions or dangled rewards. Given this stark reality, the latest round of European negotiations is likely to meet the fate of the previous ones.