Ex-Diplomat Says Iran Should Accept West's Terms Or Face Consequences
While Iran's UN envoy says Tehran is prepared to resume talks over the 2015 nuclear deal, a seasoned ex-diplomat says Tehran should accept the Western terms.
While Iran's UN envoy says Tehran is prepared to resume talks over the 2015 nuclear deal, a seasoned ex-diplomat says Tehran should accept the Western terms.
Former Iranian diplomat, Fereydoun Majlesi told Rouydad24 website in Tehran that "Iran can either accept the West's solution or follow its own path and be prepared for its consequences."
Referring to higher oil exports by Iran, he said: It is true that the restrictions imposed on Iran by the United States are getting weaker on a daily basis, but this should give no reason to Iran to continue its hostile behavior."
He explained that "In fact, Iran has restricted itself."
He also touched upon another aspect of Iran's approach to negotiations. Majlesi said: "Raisi administration's negotiators do not wish to fight the West, but at the same time, they refuse to accept the rules of negotiations. They do not know what to do and that has led to a halt."
"The three European countries in the JCPOA have declared that Iran has violated the agreement. The West believes that Iran's missile development was against the terms of the JCPOA. Some even believe that Iran is potentially very close to producing a nuclear bomb. Therefore, the minimum precondition by the West is returning to the JCPOA as it was under President Hassan Rouhani," Majlesi maintained.
He added: "The point is that a country which is under serious pressures and its case is going to be referred to the UN Security Council can hardly set a precondition for negotiations." He added that Iranian officials should realize that the people are suffering under these pressures, so the government has only two solutions ahead: Accept the West's terms or pay for their own final solution.
Etemad Online in Tehran quoted Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeed Iravani as saying that Tehran's space and missile programs and regional issues do not fall within the scope of UN Resolution 2231, adding that "We are prepared to resume the negotiations to return to the JCPOA as soon as possible and to ensure its full compliance by all parties involved."
Resolution 2231 was related to the JCPOA nuclear agreement and restricted Iranian weapons capable of carrying nuclear weapons. Western powers are lately arguing that Iran is in violation of the agreement, among other things, by delivering drones to Russia.
Meanwhile, Iravani expressed strong objections to the participation of Ukraine's UN ambassador in the July 6 meeting about non-proliferation and the JCPOA. "We strongly protest to the UN Security Council Chief for inviting a country that has nothing to do directly or indirectly to the meeting's agenda. This was neither constructive nor indicative of goodwill," he said.
He described inviting Ukraine's representative to the meeting, "an attempt to divert attentions from the agenda which was discussing implementing the JCPOA and Western side's non-compliance to the agreement particularly the United States' withdrawal from the deal."
He further insisted that Washington should be recognized as the party responsible for the current situation as it has withdrawn from the 2015 deal. Iravani added that the three European partners of the JCPOA have neglected their commitments under the deal and Resolution 2231. He said the United States has arrogantly forced other UN members to violate Resolution 2231. "this is unprecedented," Iravani said.
Under the circumstances, Iravani said, Iran has no choice other than adopting countermeasures to restore its rights under paragraphs 26 and 36 of the JCPOA. "It was the United States and not Iran that left the agreement," he said, adding that whatever Iran has done as her reaction is revocable once the agreement is restored.
A moderate conservative figure has branded the members of ultraconservative party Paydari [steadfastness] “political businessmen” out to secure power and make money.
Mohammad Mohajeri, a former hardline conservative figure turned “moderate” who was once one of the editors of hardline daily Kushan, says the ideological games being played by Paydari are nothing but moves to secure the interests of ultraconservative politicians.
Mohajeri said in an interview widely covered by the Iranian press this week that moves to expand power and influence have spread to the state television, where leading Paydari member Vahid Jalili, a brother of former nuclear negotiator and Khamenei confidant Saeed Jalili, has been placing likeminded individuals on key posts ahead of the elections.
Exerting influence on the state TV is key to electioneering in Iran because it is the only broadcaster in the country. It targets regime supporters and promotes Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s hardline political views. However, it has lost its reach and influence among the middle class to a great extent after the disputed presidential election in 2009.
Mohajeri charged that state TV chief Payman Jebelli has put the national broadcaster totally at the disposal of hardliners by appointing Jalili as his deputy. He said that the television with its exclusive right to broadcasting in Iran has already been promoting the electoral agenda of the hardliners and paving the way for a landslide victory for Paydari.
However, he pointed out that polls conducted in Iran show that the state TV has lost three quarters of its viewership in a decade and the ideological management is hurting its popularity even more.
Mohajeri pointed out that there are four major groups of conservatives in the Iranian political landscape: Paydari, the neo-cons around Majles Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, traditional conservatives close to former Majles Speaker Gholamreza Ali Haddad Adel, and another group that calls itself “moderate and rational.” From among these four groups, Paydari currently has the upper hand among regime insiders.
Mohajeri had said in another interview last week that “Paydari is President Ebrahim Raisi’s strategic ally,” and are most likely to give all their support to Raisi and the candidates he picks for the Majles election in March. He added that Paydari is working on a plan to minimize the turnout next March so that mostly regime supporters come out to vote and most of them cast their ballots for its candidates.
Furthermore, Gholamreza Ali Jafarzadeh Imanabadi, a former lawmaker from Rasht in northern Iran, revealed that Paydari has been reaching out to ultraconservative figures who they believe can secure votes, encouraging them to run as representatives of the party in the upcoming elections.
Reformist politician Mohammad Reza Javadi Hesar told Etemad Online on Wednesday that Paydari has been exploiting state television in a manner that has even frustrated other conservatives. He may have been referring to a report on the website of the IRGC-linked Tasnim News Agency, which stated that Jalili's actions at state TV have deeply annoyed individuals devoted to the ideology of the Islamic Republic.
In response to criticism, Jalili argued that he possesses the appropriate background for the position of deputy director at state TV, stating that some of his predecessors came from the IRGC and were experts on missiles rather than having a background in a cultural organization such as the Art Bureau of the Islamic Propagation Organization, where he previously worked before being appointed as deputy state TV director.