Tag: Middle East

Articles, Publications

Netanyahu’s Threats Undermine Possible Nuclear Deal With Iran

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Regrettably, Iran and its European counterparts failed to reach a final agreement because President George W. Bush continued to deny the legitimate rights of Iran under the NPT, altering the balance of forces in Iran toward those in favor of radicalism. Once again, with President-elect Rouhani, there is a golden opportunity for the US to reinvigorate diplomatic efforts to resolve the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program.

Netanyahu needs to know that Rouhani is neither wolf nor sheep. He is a pragmatic politician who has already proved his sincerity to realize a peaceful, sustainable and realistic solution to the nuclear dilemma. The US should not miss or dismiss this unique opportunity. President Obama should be brave and invest political capital to pursue a direct and broad deal with Iran and end over three decades of hostilities. Such historical achievements require Netanyahu to recognize a fact: US-Iran rapprochement is the only way to decrease tensions between Tehran and Tel Aviv.

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Articles, Publications

The Rise of the Iranian Moderates

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With Rouhani’s victory, politics of Iran will shift toward the center and reduce 16 years of factionalism in the administration. Rouhani — a moderate centrist — believes the government cannot be ruled by one faction, neither Reformist nor Principalist. Instead, he advocates for the full utilization of the best and most capable public servants from both factions. Following his victory, Rouhani stated, “This victory is a victory of wisdom, a victory of moderation, a victory of growth and awareness and a victory of commitment over extremism and ill-temper.” Addressing factionalism plaguing the country, he added, “I warmly shake the hands of all moderates, Reformists and Principalists [Conservatives].”

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“The Rise of the Iranian Moderates,” Hossein Mousavian, Al-Monitor, July 5, 2013.

Articles

Opinion: It is time for security cooperation between the Gulf States and Iran

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During his spring 2005 trip to all GCC countries, Rouhani met with the heads of GCC states separately and stressed Iran’s readiness to establish a regional cooperation system between Iran, Iraq, and the GCC. Rouhani told the GCC leaders that Iran places no limit on the level and quality of a comprehensive cooperation for peace, security, and stability in the region. Moreover, Rouhani stressed Iran’s readiness to remove all concerns the GCC might have about their large neighbor.

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“Opinion: It is time for security cooperation between the Gulf States and Iran,” Hossein Mousavian, Asharq Al-Awsat, June 28, 2013.

Articles, Publications

Iran’s Next President and The Third Nuclear Strategy

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The Iranian presidential election is set for June 14, and the candidate selected will take office in August. The world is eager to know the new president’s nuclear policy.

The ongoing Iranian nuclear issue dates back to early 2003, when Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), visited the nuclear facilities at Natanz and officially announced that Iran was among 10 nations that had attained enrichment technology and capability. After that, during the tenures of Presidents Mohammad Khatami and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran and the world embarked on two approaches to nuclear diplomacy with varying costs and benefits.

“Iran’s Next President and The Third Nuclear Strategy,” Hossein Mousavian, Al-Monitor, June 10, 2013.

Articles, Publications

Engage with Iran in Afghanistan

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Despite the U.S. plan to withdraw from Afghanistan in late 2014, Washington is likely to maintain a presence of around 10,000 civilian and military personnel. The need to protect the security of those remaining forces requires the United States to engage Afghanistan’s neighbors—including Iran—during the transition.

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“Engage with Iran in Afghanistan,” Hossein Mousavian, the National Interest, May 30, 2013.

Essays, Publications

Globalizing Iran’s Fatwa Against Nuclear Weapons

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Over a decade of negotiations between Iran and various world powers over Tehran’s nuclear programme have yielded little or no progress. Although all parties seek a peaceful resolution to this quagmire through diplomacy, all the major demands of the P5+1 (the permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, Russia, China, France and the UK – plus Germany) go beyond the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and its Safeguard Agreement, the only viable and legitimate international framework for non-proliferation. In 2011, I proposed a peaceful solution based on the 2005 fatwa (religious decree) of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei banning the acquisition, production and use of nuclear weapons, and in 2012 Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi declared Iran’s willingness to transform the fatwa ‘into a legally binding, official document in the UN’, to secularise what many in the West see as a purely religious decree.1 Such a step would provide a sustainable legal and political umbrella for Iran to accept required measures; facilitate transparency and confidence-building measures; and help address doubts in the West about the commitment to the principles expressed in the fatwa in the context of Iran’s system of government, where politics and religion are intertwined.

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“Globalizing Iran’s Fatwa Against Nuclear Weapons,” Hossein Mousavian, Survival: Global Politics and Strategy, 55:2, 147-162. Published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), April 8, 2013.

 

Articles, Publications

A Seven-Point Plan to Prevent The Collapse of Syria

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Since March 2011, 70,000 Syrian civilians, military, government officials and opposition forces have been killed, 3 million have been displaced and 1.1 million Syrians have become refugees — plunging the country into turmoil and placing the security of the whole region at risk. The Syrian instability is dragging the country toward the throes of all out civil war, sectarian war and ultimately disintegration. If no immediate and robust actions are taken, this process could set into motion a chain of events that would pose a grave threat to the stability of the entire Middle East and beyond.

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“A Seven-Point Plan to Prevent The Collapse of Syria”, Hossein Mousavian, Al-Monitor, April 7, 2013.

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.

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).