“Irán reforzó su programa nuclear para presionar a Estados Unidos” (Spanish)
Seyed Hossein Mousavian está convencido de que las sanciones impuestas por Occidente a Irán fueron “contraproducentes”. Este diplomático y politólogo iraní explicó este viernes en Madrid que Teherán decidió reforzar su programa nuclear en respuesta a las mismas. “Para presionar a Washington”, añadió.
“Irán reforzó su programa nuclear para presionar a Estados Unidos,” Interview with El Pais, September 25, 2015.
During his speech before the United Nations General Assembly, U.S. President Barack Obama accused Iran of using “violent proxies to advance its interests,” which he claimed served to “fuel sectarian conflict” in the region. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani shot back during his speech, decrying what he said were “baseless accusations” against Iran and calling for the United States to halt its “dangerous policies in defense of its regional allies who only cultivate the seeds of division and extremism.”
Obama and Rouhani’s comments highlight a broader issue underlying the troubled U.S.-Iran relationship. In the West, many commentators often portray Iran’s leaders as being unreasonably suspicious about the intentions of outside powers, particularly the United States. Often dovetailing with this mentality is that Iran is irrationally and innately aggressive. While President Obama’s remarks at the UNGA reflect this black-and-white thinking about Iran to a degree, other high-level U.S. officials have been far more brazen in their dishonest condemnations of Iran. For instance, the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, remarkably proclaimed in a March 2015 interview that “Iran and radical Islamist extremists” have opposed the United States simply because they “do not like our way of life.”
“Why Iran Doesn’t Trust America — And What Can Be Done to Change That,” Hossein Mousavian, The Huffington Post, October 5, 2015.
“Diplomat Hossein Mousavian Optimistic About Joint Future Of Iran And The West,” Sarah Hurd, KGOU (NPR), September 18, 2015. (Audio)
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.
Republican intransigence over the Iran nuclear deal has proven to be futile, with Democratic senators successfully filibustering a Republican motion of disapproval last Thursday. However, this has not prevented the GOP from pursuing other inventive ways to derail this landmark diplomatic achievement. Sadly, the main consequence of dead-end Republican revanchism over the Iran deal is that it has reinforced highly insular mindsets — characterized by an “us-against-them” mentality — with respect to Iran.
In no circumstance has black and white moralizing ever given an accurate depiction of reality, least of all in regards to modern day Iran — a society far more complex and pluralistic than what many Westerners believe. By constantly shouting crude slogans denigrating Iran and spinning a spider’s web of misinformation about the country, Iran deal obstructionists are in fact acting in ways wholly counterproductive to the cause of international peace and security.
“It’s Time for Republicans to Abandon Their Short-Sighted Approach to Iran,” Hossein Mousavian, The Huffington Post, September 14, 2015.
“Iran & the US – Beyond the Nuclear Deal,” Rotary Club of Oklahoma City, September 8, 2015. (Video)
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.
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.
“Nuclear Deal is Model for Closing Path to Militarization and Weaponization,” Interview with Hossein Mousavian, Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! July 16, 2015. (Video)
