“Diplomat Hossein Mousavian Optimistic About Joint Future Of Iran And The West,” Sarah Hurd, KGOU (NPR), September 18, 2015. (Audio)
Tag: Iran
Should Congress Approve the Iran Deal?
The Iran nuclear deal represents the most comprehensive international agreement ever reached in the area of nuclear nonproliferation. The confidence-building measures it elicits from Iran in order to ensure that its nuclear program will remain peaceful—ranging from intrusive inspections to novel verification mechanisms—are the most powerful of their kind that a Nuclear Nonproliferation member-state has agreed to. If the objective was to certify Iran’s compliance with NPT and block all possible paths toward a bomb, then this agreement represents the maximum that could have been achieved.
“Should Congress Approve the Iran Deal?” Hossein Mousavian, Foreign affairs, September 7, 2015.
Is Iran too Aggressive in the Middle East? Joshua Landis interviews Hussein Mousavian
“Is Iran too Aggressive in the Middle East? Joshua Landis interviews Hussein Mousavian,” Interview with Hossein Mousavian, University of Oklahoma, September 16, 2015. (Video)
“Iran & the US – Beyond the Nuclear Deal” (Video)
“Iran & the US – Beyond the Nuclear Deal,” Rotary Club of Oklahoma City, September 8, 2015. (Video)
What Obama should say to King Salman during his visit
The relationship between Iran and its southern Arab neighbors — namely, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states — has been turbulent for the past few decades. The GCC states were under the shadow of Iraq and Iran, the two prevailing powers in the Persian Gulf, for much of the 20th century, with the latter historically being the more dominant power. Stricken with internal disputes, weak central governments and rivalries among themselves, the Arab states along the Persian Gulf’s southern coast were never in a position to challenge the powers to their north.
The situation changed after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, which brought political Islam to the geopolitical scene. The autocratic Persian Gulf monarchies immediately felt threatened by this new political force, which had the potential to undermine their legitimacy and jeopardize their rule. Within this context, in 1981 they established the GCC, comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War in 1980 had provided a convenient excuse to exclude Iraq and Yemen, notable omissions even though the latter does not border on the Persian Gulf, and Iraq has close to 40 miles of coastline.
“What Obama should say to King Salman during his visit,” Hossein Mousavian, Al Monitor, September 4, 2015.
A rejection of the nuclear deal could lead to radicalism in Iran
With the ongoing domestic in-fighting in the United States and Iran over the nuclear deal — which has already become legally binding by way of a U.N. Security Council resolution — it has become clear that Congress poses the biggest risk for the deal falling through. Congress’s ability to play a spoiler role comes not only from the power it has to scuttle the deal altogether but also from its efforts at fostering an uncertain atmosphere regarding the removal of sanctions on Iran.
The effectiveness of the nuclear deal will rely largely on the P5+1 instilling confidence in the global business community that sanctions have been removed and the country is open for business. Truly removing sanctions in a way that would have tangible benefits for Iran would require shaping expectations in such a way that businesses do not feel their investments are precarious and susceptible to the political machinations of Congress or a future U.S. president.
“A rejection of the nuclear deal could lead to radicalism in Iran,” Hossein Mousavian, The Washington Post, August 28, 2015.
If Congress Rejects the Iran Deal, It Would Be a Historic Blunder
The comprehensive nuclear agreement reached between Iran and six world powers represents a milestone achievement for the cause of global peace and security. Such a diplomatic resolution to a long-running dispute between rival powers has only rarely occurred in history. With this historic deal at hand, the dawn of a new age of relations between Iran and the United States is within sight.
The morphing of the Iranian nuclear dispute into a zero-sum battle in which war seemed an inevitability, coupled with the presence of prudent leadership in Tehran and Washington that understood this reality, spurred the diplomatic approach that led to this deal. This roughly 100-page agreement, meticulously crafted by the indefatigable diplomats of Iran and the P5+1, not only averts another catastrophic war in the world’s most volatile region, but sets new non-proliferation standards that can be applied throughout the world.
“If Congress Rejects the Iran Deal, It Would Be a Historic Blunder,” Hossein Mousavian, Huffington Post, August 21, 2015.
Iran’s nuclear deal (Video)
“Iran’s nuclear deal,” Interview with Hossein Mousavian, BBC, July 14, 2015.
Iran nuclear deal reached (Video)
“Iran nuclear deal reached,” Interview with Hossein Mousavian, Becky Anderson, CNN, July 14, 2015. (Video)
Iranian Nuclear Negotiations
“Iranian Nuclear Negotiations,” Interview with Hossein Mousavian, Ari Rabin-Havt, SiriusXM, July 13, 2015. (Audio)
