Publications

Articles, Publications

Strategic engagement: Iran, Iraq and the GCC

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The Gulf is facing new challenges in an array of issues, such as: Arab awakening in the Middle East and North Africa, Arab-Israeli conflict on the peace process, extremism, the widening gap between Iran and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on the crisis in Syria and tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme. Relations between Iran and its Arab neighbors in the Gulf have historically been strained under the rule of both the Pahlavi monarchy and the Islamic Republic. Since 1980 and the GCC support of Iraq’s invasion of Iran (1980-88), relations experienced the most hostile era. How to build trust between Iran and the GCC has remained one of the most critical issues facing the region.

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“Strategic engagement: Iran, Iraq and the GCC”, Hossein Mousavian, Gulf News, March 24, 2013.

Articles, Publications

Will ‘Almaty 2’ Talks in April Win Breakthrough on Iran?

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The latest nuclear talks held between Iran and the world powers on Feb. 26 in Kazakhstan, called Almaty 1, was described as “positive” by Iran, while world powers characterized it as “useful.” The parties agreed to hold meetings first at an expert level on March 18 in Istanbul, followed by political directors on April 5-6, once again in Kazakhstan, dubbed Almaty 2.

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“Will ‘Almaty 2’ Talks in April Win Breakthrough on Iran?” Hossein Mousavian, Al Monitor, March 7, 2013.

 

Articles, Publications

Embrace the Fatwa

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As the Western media reported it, the future of U.S.-Iranian nuclear negotiations suffered a major setback on Feb. 7 when Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei seemed to reject Vice President Joseph Biden’s offer of direct talks. “Some naive people like the idea of negotiating with America, however, negotiations will not solve the problem,” the supreme leader said in a statement posted on his website. “You are pointing a gun at Iran saying you want to talk. The Iranian nation will not be frightened by the threats.”

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“Embrace the Fatwa”, Hossein Mousavian, Foreign Policy, February 7, 2013.

Articles, Publications

Iran wants a nuclear deal, not war

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To stop Iran achieving “critical capability” to produce nuclear weapons in the coming months, President Obama must impose “maximal” sanctions – that is the message of a new report issued in Washington by five senior non-proliferation specialists. They call on Obama to implement a de facto international embargo on all investments in, and trade with, Iran, declaring: “A successful outcome in any negotiations with Iran depends on the immediate implementation of these sanctions, along with simultaneously reinforcing the credibility of President Obama’s threat to use military force, if necessary, to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.”

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“Iran wants a nuclear deal, not war”, Hossein Mousavian, the Guardian, January 21, 2013.

Articles, Publications

How to talk to Iran

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IF there are any two words in Persian that President Obama should learn, they are “maslahat” and “aberu.” Maslahat is often translated as expediency, or self-interest. Aberu means face — as in, saving face. In the nearly 34 years since the Islamic revolution in Iran, expediency has been a pillar of decision making, but within a framework that has allowed Iranian leaders to save face. If there is to be any resolution of the nuclear standoff, Western leaders must grasp these concepts.

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“How to talk to Iran”,  Hossein Mousavian and Mohammad Ali Shabani, New York Times, January 3, 2013.

Articles, Publications

Closing Iran’s Nuclear File

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The next six to 24 months are going to be the most vital period for Iran-US relations on both the nuclear dilemma and US-Iran relations. Eleven years of diplomatic negotiations on the Iranian nuclear dossier have failed. While the world powers and Iran are working on the next meeting to happen soon, the most critical question remains as to whether a feasible deal is plausible? Under President Obama’s leadership, the most comprehensive sanctions and punitive measures have been imposed on Iran, while Iran, in response, has accelerated its nuclear program.

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“Closing Iran’s Nuclear File”, Hossein Mousavian, Al Monitor, January 3, 2013.

Essays, Publications

An Opportunity for a U.S.–Iran Paradigm Shift

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America as a superpower has had a longstanding interest in the Middle East, and thus is no stranger to the region. Unfortunately, the continuing U.S. domination in the Middle East with its flawed policies is creating strategic imbalances in the region and fueling intra-/regional tensions with serious implications for the overall peace and security of the region. The flawed U.S. polices in the Middle East are already leading to its total alienation from the region’s people. A recent poll the first of its kind in the region, conducted in twelve Arab countries covering 84 percent of the population of the Arab world shows 93.75 percent of the people look at the Unites States and Israel as the major threat to their interests.1 Growing anti-/Americanism in the Arab world is no secret.

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Hossein Mousavian, “An Opportunity for a U.S.–Iran Paradigm Shift.” The Washington Quarterly 36, no. 1 (pgs. 129-144). Published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Washington (12/2012).

Essays, Publications

Iran, the US and Weapons of Mass Destruction

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The United States has launched, in effect, an economic, political, cyber and covert war with Iran. American–Iranian relations could reach a turning point within a year. Without substantial progress on the diplomatic front, the chance for a unilateral Israeli or a joint US–Israeli military campaign aimed at destroying the Iranian nuclear programme could become a probability. Any attempt to reorient the current diplomatic trajectory will require a better understanding of the dispute between Tehran and Washington over nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

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Hossein Mousavian, “Iran, the US and Weapons of Mass Destruction.” Survival 54, no. 5 (pgs. 183-202). Published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, London (10/2012).

Articles, Publications

Ten Reasons Iran Doesn’t Want the Bomb

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Since the beginning of Iran’s nuclear crisis, the West has been convinced that one approach offers the best hope of altering Tehran’s nuclear policy and halting its enrichment activities: comprehensive international sanctions and a credible threat of military strike. During the same period, I have repeatedly warned my friends in the West that such punitive pressures, no matter how severe, will not change the Iranian leadership’s mindset, and that a military option would be catastrophic for Iran, the region and beyond.

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“Ten Reasons Iran Doesn’t Want the Bomb,” National Interest, December 4, 2012.

Articles, Publications

Obama must offer a ‘grand deal’ with Iran on its nuclear program

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For Iran, the nuclear crisis has become the most important national security and foreign policy challenge since the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. The country may not be losing hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians to a hot war. But it is enduring the most severe sanctions in its history, foreign assassinations of its scientists, and international pressure that has shaken the foundation of its relations regionally, and with Western and Eastern powers. It would not be unrealistic to conclude that Iran has already paid the price for a nuclear bomb.

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“Obama must offer a ‘grand deal’ with Iran on its nuclear program,” The Christian Science Monitor, November 28, 2012.