“Death by moderation,” Interview with Hossein Mousavian, Omid Memarian, Foreign Policy, August 2, 2013.
Tag: US-Iran
Iranian insider on country’s new leader (Video)
“Iranian insider on country’s new leader,” Interview with Hossein Mousavian, Christiane Amanpour, CNN, July 25, 2013. (Video)
Netanyahu’s Threats Undermine Possible Nuclear Deal With Iran
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.
Change with Rouhani?
“Change with Rouhani?” Interview with Hossein Mousavian, Jasmin Ramsey, IPS, July 15, 2013.
Five Options for Iran’s New President
[Author’s note: The views in this paper were presented prior to the Iranian presidential election at the NPT Prepcom on April 25 and publicly at Global Zero event at University of California-Irvine on May 23, 2013 respectively. This paper does not reflect in anyway the official position of the Iranian government.]
Nuclear negotiations lasting more than a decade between Iran and world powers have failed. The talks have been unable to reconcile the concerns voiced by the United States and other parties that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon with Iran’s insistence that its program is strictly peaceful and only intended for civilian energy production.
Publicly, the U.S. and other Western officials blame the failure of nuclear talks on Iran. The key question, however, is whether talks have failed because of the perceived Iranian intention to build a nuclear bomb, or due to the West’s unwillingness to recognize Iran’s right to enrich uranium under international safeguards. Former U.S. officials Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett, authors of Going to Tehran: Why the United States Must Come to Terms with the Islamic Republic of Iran, recently addressed this issue, which rarely is part of Iran policy debates in the United States: “Washington’s unwillingness [to recognize the rights of Iran for enrichment] is grounded in unattractive, but fundamental, aspects of American strategic culture: difficulty coming to terms with independent power centers (whether globally or in vital regions like the Middle East); hostility to non-liberal states, unless they subordinate their foreign policies to U.S. preferences (as Egypt did under Sadat and Mubarak); and an unreflective but deeply rooted sense that U.S.-backed norms, rules, and transnational decision-making processes are meant to constrain others, not America itself.”
Iran, as a sovereign state and a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), is entitled to uranium enrichment. I believe that if Washington recognized Iran’s right to enrich, a nuclear deal could be reached immediately. Without this recognition, no substantial agreement will be possible.
“Five Options for Iran’s New President,” Hossein Mousavian, Cairo Review, pgs. 68-79. Published by the Cairo Review of Global Affairs, July 2013.
Nuclear Options for Iran’s New President (Arabic)
ستكون هناك فرصة أكبر لتحقيق انفراجة دبلوماسية في الجمود بشأن البرنامج النووي الإيراني خلال الولاية الثانية للرئيس الأميركي باراك أوباما، الذي طالب القادة الإيرانيين، في خطاب حالة الاتحاد لعام 2013، بـ«الاعتراف بأن هذا هو الوقت المناسب للتوصل إلى حل دبلوماسي». وعلاوة على ذلك، يأتي فوز كبير المفاوضين النوويين الإيرانيين حسن روحاني بانتخابات الرئاسة الإيرانية الشهر الماضي ليقدم آفاقا جديدة للمفاوضات.
“Nuclear Options for Iran’s New President,” Hossein Mousavian, Asharq Al-Awsat, July 9, 2013. (Arabic)
Confidante of the new Iranian president (Japanese)
“Confidante of the new Iranian president,” Interview with Hossein Mousavian, Fumi Yoshida, Asahi Shimbun, June 28, 2013. (Japanese)
Iran: With a Smiling President, Are Iranians’ Hopes Justified?
“Iran: With a Smiling President, Are Iranians’ Hopes Justified?” Interview with Hossein Mousavian, Michelle Moghtader, Energy Intelligence, June 21, 2013.
Opinion: It is time for security cooperation between the Gulf States and Iran
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.
“Opinion: It is time for security cooperation between the Gulf States and Iran,” Hossein Mousavian, Asharq Al-Awsat, June 28, 2013.
How to End the Stalemate With Iran
Sooner rather than later, Iran and the United States will engage with each other. The main obstacle to a final deal is no longer its terms, but the path to reaching such an accord. Mr. Rowhani and Mr. Obama must stick to pragmatism and fend off extremism. They must combine prudence with courage and take reciprocal, rationally sequenced steps, and then follow through with hard sells at home. And most of all, they must avoid embracing the misperceptions of strength and weakness that have brought us to the brink. After decades of fruitless confrontation, both the United States and Iran need cooperation.
“How to End the Stalemate With Iran,” Hossein Mousavian & Mohammad Ali Shabani, The New York Times, June 18, 2013.
