April 19, 2025
Trump administration running out of time to make nuclear deal with Iran
Media
Foreign Policy: A Nuclear Deal With Iran Is Possible—but Only if the U.S. Learns From History. A former Iranian diplomat outlines a path forward.
By Seyed Hossein Mousavian
April 18, 2025
U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has emphasized that any agreement must be “Trump’s deal”—distinguishing it from the 2015 nuclear agreement reached under then-U.S. President Obama….I believe the Trump team can succeed in diplomacy with Iran—if it adopts five foundational principles.
ایران در آستانه تبدیل شدن به کشور هسته‌ای است، ترامپ چاره‌ای جز دیپلماسی ندارد:مصاحبه موسویان با الجزیره عربی
April 17, 2025
اگر قرار است توافقی بین ایران و آمریکا صورت بگیرد، هر دو طرف باید به قوانین و عرف‌های بین‌المللی در موضوع هسته‌ای احترام بگذارند. معیار، معاهده منع گسترش سلاح‌های هسته‌ای است. آمریکا یا می‌خواهد ایران عضو این معاهده باشد یا نه. اگر نمی‌خواهد، باید به سناریوی مشابه کره شمالی فکر کند که از معاهده خارج شد و طی سال‌ها سلاح هسته‌ای ساخت و آمریکا نتوانست به آن حمله کند
اگر هم آمریکا بخواهد ایران عضو معاهده باشد، باید حقوق و تعهدات ایران را رعایت کند. توافق منطقی فقط در همین چارچوب امکان‌پذیر است. با تهدید و حمله نظامی، تأسیسات هسته‌ای ایران از بین نمیرود و تحت این شرایط توافقی نخواهد بود
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists:Behind the US-Iran talks: five points of convergence between Trump and Khamenei
By Seyed Hossein Mousavian | April 16, 2025
Despite the multiple challenges negotiators face, at the heart of these discussions are five key points of convergence between Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and US President Donald Trump, both of whom have indicated an interest in de-escalating tensions and avoiding war.
My Interview with the NBC: As U.S. and Iran look to begin nuclear talks amid fresh sanctions, can there be a deal?
April 12, 2025
Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a Middle East security and nuclear policy specialist at Princeton University and a former spokesman for Iran in its nuclear negotiations with the West, said he did not believe that if talks this weekend failed to produce such a result that the immediate “alternative would be war.”
Mousavian agreed, saying both sides will be using the indirect talks as an opportunity to “assess each other and the intentions of the other side.”
My interview with the New York Times: Why Iran’s Supreme Leader Came Around to Nuclear Talks with the U.S.
April 11, 2025
“Mr. Khamenei’s turnaround demonstrates his long-held core principle that ‘preserving the regime is the most necessary of the necessities,’” said Hossein Mousavian, a former diplomat who served on Iran’s nuclear negotiating team on a 2015 deal and is now a visiting fellow at Princeton University.
Mr. Mousavian, the former nuclear negotiator, said Iran would never agree to demands by Washington and Israel to completely dismantle its nuclear program, adding that such a demand would be a “deal breaker.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/world/middleeast/us-iran-talks-trump-khamenei.html
My interview with The Washington Post: High-level talks to begin in Oman
April 11, 2025
Iranian negotiators are probably seeking a limited agreement with the United States that can be finalized quickly, according to Hossein Mousavian, a former Iranian ambassador who served on the country’s nuclear negotiating team.
“If Trump asks for dismantlement” of Iran’s entire nuclear program, “there is no chance. It’s deal killer,” he said. Netanyahu’s suggestion of a “Libya-style deal,” in which the late Moammar Gaddafi voluntarily gave up a nascent nuclear weapons program in 2003 after the United States threatened to destroy it, he and others suggested, was far beyond the bounds of what Iran would accept.
But if U.S. negotiators are only looking to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, impose greater transparency and set limits on enrichment, the two sides could agree to further talks aimed at reaching a broad “understanding on principles,” said Mousavian, similar to the first phase of the negotiations leading up to the 2015 nuclear deal.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/04/11/us-iran-nuclear-talks-witkoff-trump/
New York Times Interview with Mousavian:Trump Wants an Iran Nuclear Deal, but It Must Be Better Than Obama’s
April 9, 2025
Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a Middle East security and nuclear policy specialist at Princeton University, said he believed there was a chance of success for the negotiations, where both sides leave the table with an outcome they can sell to the people of their countries, including one in which Iran submits to regular inspections.
“Steve Witkoff, to my understanding, he really wants to make a deal. He really doesn’t want war, and he has the same mind-set as President Trump,” Mr. Mousavian said. “Therefore, I see the chance. But the reality is that Iran and the U.S. have 45 years of hostilities to resolve and to agree is very complicated.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/us/politics/trump-iran-nuclear-deal.html
Lemonde Interview with Mousavian: Iran-US Talks in Oman
April 9, 2025
Why Iran-US indirect talks can lead to direct talks
Interview with NPR: What options the U.S. has to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon
March 3, 2025
NORTHAM: Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a Mideast security and nuclear policy specialist at Princeton University, says it’s also a mistake to think that Iran will agree to anything just because it’s had a string of setbacks.
SEYED HOSSEIN MOUSAVIAN: Iranians, always they are very sensitive not to negotiate, not to make a deal, as long as the other side has a feeling of weakness on the Iranian side.
NORTHAM: Mousavian says Trump should think of Iran like an investment opportunity, especially with the country’s vast oil and gas resources.
MOUSAVIAN: The real game changer in U.S.-Iran relation is economic engagement because Iran has been under sanctions for 40 years and needs trillions of dollars in investment for economic cooperation.
NORTHAM: And as Trump has shown, nothing is off the table.
Jackie Northam, NPR News.