Tag: Iraq

Lectures

IISS Manama: Regional challenges and their immediate and long-term implications

Posted on

Comments at the 5th Plenary Session of the 10th IISS Regional Security Summit: The Manama Dialogue

I think the Muslim powers – like Turkey, like Saudi Arabia, like Egypt, like Iraq, like Iran – can begin to establish a collective regional Islamic package and measure to fight extremism in general. Whether we have Shia extremism or Sunni extremism, whether this is Daesh or whatever it is, this would create a first‑step trust between the regional powers. I really do not support the US interfering in Muslim countries, fighting the Muslim terrorists, or those who call themselves Muslim, because the US is not popular in the Arab world; the image of the US is not good, and this would really give more fuel to the crisis because they would feel this is America, this is Zionism invading Afghanistan, invading Iraq, and they would be able to recruit more. If we have Muslim countries’ forces collectively cooperate to fight these people who are claiming they are Muslim, we would need the US, we would need P5+1’s support and the United Nations support, not military interference.

Listen to Audio [From 01hr06min—01hr11min]

Read Transcript

Comments at the 4th Plenary Session of the 10th IISS Regional Security Summit: The Manama Dialogue

Listen to Audio [From 41min30sec—44min15sec]

Read Transcript

Comments at the 2nd Plenary Session of the 10th IISS Regional Security Summit: The Manama Dialogue

Listen to Audio [From 48min—51min]

Read Transcript

Media Exposure: “Analyst urges PGCC member states to engage with Iran,” IRNA, December 7, 2014. Read More

“Regional challenges and their immediate and long-term implications,” Presentation at the 10th IISS Regional Security Summit: The Manama Dialogue, December 5, 2014.

Essays, Publications

The Solution to the Iranian Nuclear Crisis and Its Consequences for the Middle East

Posted on

After a decade of failed nuclear negotiations between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1), they have finally fleshed out a temporary agreement that will hopefully restore trust in the peaceful character of Iran’s nuclear program among all parties. To do so, the temporary agreement must become the basis for renewed discussions on a final deal and the contours of a regional nuclear order in the Middle East. In a broader sense, the outcome of the nuclear negotiations with Iran will have a profound impact on nuclear nonproliferation, a nuclear weapons−free zone (NWFZ), and a zone free of nuclear weapons and of other weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems (WMDFZ) in the Middle East.

This article examines the consequences of the breakthrough in nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1. A negotiated settlement will be based on the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, with measures to address key demands from all parties involved. For the P5+1, this includes transparency and verification over the nature of the Iranian nuclear program, ensuring there will be no breakout. Iran’s main demand includes respecting its rights under the NPT, including enrichment and lifting sanctions, as negotiated in the November 2013 interim agreement between it and the P5+1. Furthermore, a permanent settlement on the Iranian nuclear issue will inevitably introduce modified and newly formulated measures and technical modalities at the regional level, which will enhance nonproliferation efforts. These milestones, which are described in this article, will pave the way toward strengthening the call for concerted efforts to realize a WMDFZ in the Middle East and will help preserve the global nuclear nonproliferation regime in the future.

Read Paper

“The Solution to the Iranian Nuclear Crisis and Its Consequences for the Middle East,” Hossein Mousavian, Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 529-544. Published by Global Governance, October 2014.

Articles, Publications

Collapse of the Arab world necessitates a regional solution

Posted on

The Arab world is in turmoil. The Arab Spring, which raised hopes and dreams for a wave of democratic reforms throughout the Middle East, is turning into a cold winter.

The new US policy in the Middle East departs from the policies of the past decades whereby it does not wish to heavily invest money and blood for the long term. Meanwhile, the United States’ hegemonic position in the region is on the verge of collapse. Because of the current crises in the region, Washington cannot count on its Arab allies nor can US allies count on the United States as a superpower capable of helping them confront the challenges they are facing. US President Barack Obama is clever enough to remain cautious about embroiling the United States in new adventures. While the key regional players — Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan — struggle with domestic challenges, a new geostrategy is urgently needed. Iran and the United States should overcome their differences to lead the international community in helping prevent further state collapse within the Arab world.

Read More

“Collapse of the Arab world necessitates a regional solution,” Hossein Mousavian, Al Monitor, July 31, 2014.

Articles, Publications

US and Iran security cooperation could help save Iraq

Posted on

While the highest US officials, including Obama, call the rise of terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq a threat to US national security, this deep mutual security concern can form the pillar of cooperation between Iran and the United States. Together, they face terrorists who not only have claimed territory but also obtained hundreds of millions of dollars in cash from the central bank of Mosul.

Tehran and Washington’s common interests on managing the current crisis in Iraq include:

  1. Preventing an all-out sectarian war.
  2. Opposing the collapse of the post-Saddam Hussein political system in Iraq.
  3. Securing the safe passage of oil from the Persian Gulf region.
  4. Preventing the breakup of the state system in the Middle East.
  5. Avoiding further US military involvement in the Persian Gulf.
  6. Keeping oil resources out of the hands of terrorists.
  7. Preserving the territorial integrity of Iraq.
  8. Forming a more inclusive government to avoid sectarian violence and shape unity against terrorists and insurgents.

Read More

“US and Iran security cooperation could help save Iraq,” Hossein Mousavian, Al Monitor, July 10, 2014.

Interviews

Any conflict between Iran and West will be detrimental to all: ex-nuclear negotiator

Posted on

Hossein Mousavian says since the situation in the region is very volatile, it is neither in the interests of Iran nor the West to engage in a confrontation over Tehran’s nuclear program.

In an interview with the Shargh newspaper published on Saturday, Mousavian said if Iran and the world powers fail to secure a nuclear deal, the confrontation between the two sides would blow up the entire region and its fire would consume all Western and Eastern powers.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he said that Iran and the world powers face many serious threats, such as the emergence of extremist Takfiri groups in the Middle East, production and smuggling of illegal drugs, and instability in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the same time, he said, Iran and the West share many interests in common. Such common threats and interests can help reduce mutual mistrust between Iran and the world powers, he noted.

He went on to say that in the process of talks between Iran and the six world powers, Tehran can accept to sign the Additional Protocol to the NPT provided that it is reciprocated in terms of easing the sanctions and opening the doors for peaceful nuclear cooperation with Iran.

Read More

“Any conflict between Iran and West will be detrimental to all: ex-nuclear negotiator,” Interview with Hossein Mousavian, Shargh Newspaper [English synopsis in Tehran Times], July 5, 2014.

Interviews

Former Iranian diplomat Seyed Hossein Mousavian on Iran’s growing influence (Video)

Posted on

Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a former top diplomat of Iran says, “The U.S. had the wrong assessment about the status of the Iraqi army before departing Iraq. The U.S. spent billions of dollars to create a new army, but it failed as we see today, this is the failure of U.S. policy.” CCTV’s Asieh Namdar reports.

“We need a collective cooperation between regional powers and international powers to fight this type of terror, which to my understanding the most dangerous version of terrorism in the history of mankind.” Says former Iranian diplomat Seyed Hossein Mousavian speaking on the dangerous and fast-moving advance of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants, who’ve seized large sections of northern and western Iraq in the past three weeks. The militants have threatened to march on to Baghdad.

Watch Interview

“Former Iranian diplomat Seyed Hossein Mousavian on Iran’s growing influence,” Interview with Hossein Mousavian, Asieh Namdar, CCTV America, July 1, 2014. (Video)