“Two former diplomats and experts of foreign relations visited Hamilton College on Nov. 30 for a discussion on U.S.–Iran relations and the nuclear deal. Thomas Pickering and Seyed Hossein Mousavian answered questions from moderator Emad Kiyaei, the Sol M. Linowitz Visiting Professor of International Affairs, and from the audience.”
“Former Ambassadors Discuss U.S.-Iran Relations and the Nuclear Deal,” Maggie Denoon, Hamilton, December 1, 2017.
“[D]uring the Trump administration and with taking this opportunity, the unified Tel Aviv-Riyadh-Abu Dhabi lobby has fully succeeded in imposing its demands on the decision-making system in Washington against Iran, and they are not facing serious obstacles.”
“Unprecedented Anti-Iran Tendencies Gain Momentum in White House,” Iran Front Page, December 1, 2017.
“It has been months that the lobbyists from Riyadh, Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi are urging the White House to cut off the tail of the region’s snake (the Lebanese Hezbollah movement) before cutting off Iran’s head. There are signs that a triangle comprising Washington, Tel Aviv and Riyadh is taking shape to counter Iran in the region, including efforts to deal a blow to the Iran nuclear deal (known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the JCPOA) …”
“US, UAE, Saudi Arabia Forming Alliance against Iran,” Iran Front Page, December 2, 2017.
“It appears there is a new scenario being drawn for Iran,” said Hossein Mousavian, a former spokesman for Iran’s team of nuclear negotiators and a Middle East security analyst at Princeton University. The emerging alliance “needs to be taken seriously and it will have consequences,” he said. “We need to think of ways to improve relations” with the Saudis.
“Iran Sees Its Rivals Uniting as Israel Talks Up Saudi Ties,” Ladane Nasseri and Marc Champion, Bloomberg, November 23, 2017.
“[T]o discriminate against Iran for its military capabilities while US officials insist on policies of ‘regime change’ and ‘all options on the table’ signals to Iranian decision-makers that the United States seeks to weaken Iran’s means of deterrence to more easily attack it. This, in turn, compels Tehran to invest more in developing effective deterrents. This steers the United States and Iran into an escalatory cycle that could lead to disastrous conflict.”
“The wrong way to address Iran’s missile program,” Seyed Hossein Mousavian, Al Monitor, November 21, 2017.
Trump’s Decertification of the JCPOA
“Ex Iran Ambassador Dr. Hossein Mousavian: US Cancellation of Iran Nuclear Deal,” Going Global with David Delgado, October 30, 2017.
“If the Trump administration’s concern is that after the JCPOA’s major limitations expire by 2040, there is a possibility that Iran will move towards developing nuclear weapons, undermining the JCPOA is illogical, as this will end the JCPOA’s stipulations today and not 2040. Instead, the Trump White House can view the long-term duration of the JCPOA as a way to gain confidence over the nature of Iran’s nuclear program. The best way to do this is to pursue nuclear cooperation with Iran.”
“An Iranian Nuclear Business Deal for Trump,” Seyed Hossein Mousavian, Harvard’s Belfer Center, November 1, 2017.
“Trump’s decertification of the JCPOA and his ultra-hawkish, anti-Iran rhetoric have not only alienated US allies, but predictably united a usually divided Iranian public behind their government. Moreover, with his vociferous attacks on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the IRGC, Trump has ruled out any possibility for negotiations with Tehran and put the two countries on a dangerous trajectory toward war.”
“Trump’s new Iran policy seeks perennial conflict,” Seyed Hossein Mousavian, Al Monitor, October 18, 2017.
“While [former US president Barack] Obama was in the office, Washington avoided attacking Iran and Syria, opted to engage with Iran, accepted the Iran nuclear deal, ratified uranium enrichment and heavy water in Iran, conceded Iran’s removal from chapter seven to the UN charter and annulment of all six international resolutions against Iran and suggested Saudi Arabia that Riyadh should also engage with Iran … These measures by the Obama administration infuriated the Tel Aviv-Riyadh-UAE axis and the ‘neighbor’s sedition’ took form through a hidden but strategic alliance; some of whose effects have been unveiled and some are still to be uncovered.”
“Iran, Trump and wickedness of neighbor,” Seyed Hossein Mousavian, IRNA, October 22, 2017.
