Interview: Trump and the Iran Deal
Full Interview (starts at 4m30s)
“Trump and the Iran Deal,” NOS Public Broadcasting, October 13, 2017.
Tag: Iran Deal
Consequences of nixing the Iran Deal
Here is how Hossein Mousavian, Tehran’s former Ambassador to the US, explains Iran’s policy: After the revolution, Iran was invaded by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and, for much of the past decade, chaos on its thousands of miles of borders with Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan – all factors that have compelled it to play a regional role.
“Consequences of nixing the Iran deal,” The Arab Daily News, Ghassan Michel Rubeiz, October 11, 2017.
Interview: Trumps takes on Tehran: What future for Iran nuclear deal?
Donald Trump calls it “The worst deal ever”. The question is why is he so hell-bent on decertifying a 2015 Iran nuclear agreement when even his own cabinet seems to support it? The move consistent with the US president’s bid to unwind any and all the policies of his predecessor and on the day when Washington’s announced it’s pulling out of Unesco for being too anti-Israel, how far will he go? Few expect the US to walk away from the deal but Trump could stiffen sanctions.
Guests:
Ilan GOLDENBERG Director, Middle East Security Program at CNAS
Seyed Hossein MOUSAVIAN Nuclear policy specialist, Princeton University
Michael PREGENT Former US Intelligence Officer
“Trumps takes on Tehran: What future for Iran nuclear deal?” France 24, October 12, 2017.
A former Iranian diplomat on what Trump needs to know about Iran
“It’s clear that decades of estrangement have led to a fundamental misunderstanding of Iran in Washington. Notwithstanding the Obama administration’s nuclear negotiations, every U.S. administration since the 1979 Iranian revolution has failed in its declared objective to contain Iran. If Trump wishes to free future generations of anxiety over U.S.-Iran tensions, he should pay careful attention to five points in formulating his Iran policy.”
“A former Iranian diplomat on what Trump needs to know about Iran,” Seyed Hossein Mousavian, Reuters, October 9, 2017.
‘World’s most robust’ nuclear inspection program under fire as Trump tries to rewrite the Iran deal
“There is 24-hour surveillance, and we don’t have more than 24 hours in a day,” said Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a former Iranian nuclear negotiator, now a scholar at Princeton University. “If the IAEA needs something more, they would raise it with Iran.”
“’World’s most robust’ nuclear inspection program under fire as Trump tries to rewrite the Iran deal,” Shashank Bengali, Los Angeles Times, October 4, 2017.
The right question to ask about the Iran nuclear deal
“Trump’s apparent hope that Iran will offer unilateral concessions is questioned by Iran experts. ‘I don’t believe Tehran would be ready at all to renegotiate the deal,’ said Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a former Iranian official who now teaches at Princeton University but remains in touch with his ex-colleagues. He called the idea a ‘nonstarter.’”
“The right question to ask about the Iran nuclear deal,” David Ignatius, The Washington Post, September 14, 2017.
What to expect if Trump undoes the Iran nuclear deal
“Because Trump has put the deal in his crosshairs, advocates of diplomatic engagement with the West in Iran are being discredited. If he goes ahead with his stated wish to undo it, a domestic consensus will form not to trust, negotiate or cooperate with the United States on any future issue.”
“What to expect if Trump undoes the Iran nuclear deal,” Seyed Hossein Mousavian, The Los Angeles Times, September 14, 2017.
Other countries are still trying to figure out what Trump means to them
“Tehran’s assessment of the Trump administration is that it doesn’t have a solid strategy,” said Seyed Hossein Mousavian, who was a member of Iran’s negotiating team that agreed in 2003 to suspend uranium enrichment and is now a scholar at Princeton. “So Iran will be patient to see what the strategy will be.”
“Other countries are still trying to figure out what Trump means to them,” Erin Cunningham et al, The Washington Post, April 28, 2017.
In der Ara Trump Braucht Iran Europa (EU-Iran Relations in Trump Era)
“[T]he circumstances of Trump’s election require a new road map for Iran and the EU that would safekeep Obama’s engagement policy, ensure an EU-Iran relationship that is sustainable, and prevent escalation in U.S.-Iran relations.”
“In der Ara Trump Braucht Iran Europa (EU-Iran Relations in Trump Era),” Seyed Hossein Mousavian, Frankfurter Allgemeine, December 12, 2016.
It’s Time for Republicans to Abandon Their Short-Sighted Approach to Iran
Republican intransigence over the Iran nuclear deal has proven to be futile, with Democratic senators successfully filibustering a Republican motion of disapproval last Thursday. However, this has not prevented the GOP from pursuing other inventive ways to derail this landmark diplomatic achievement. Sadly, the main consequence of dead-end Republican revanchism over the Iran deal is that it has reinforced highly insular mindsets — characterized by an “us-against-them” mentality — with respect to Iran.
In no circumstance has black and white moralizing ever given an accurate depiction of reality, least of all in regards to modern day Iran — a society far more complex and pluralistic than what many Westerners believe. By constantly shouting crude slogans denigrating Iran and spinning a spider’s web of misinformation about the country, Iran deal obstructionists are in fact acting in ways wholly counterproductive to the cause of international peace and security.
“It’s Time for Republicans to Abandon Their Short-Sighted Approach to Iran,” Hossein Mousavian, The Huffington Post, September 14, 2015.
