Azernews.Az

In many ways, both for Iran and the U.S., the nuclear issue is not the ultimate issue, Senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, James M. Dorsey, told Trend news agency.

"The problem with the negotiations is both an Iranian and an American problem," the expert said, commenting on one of the problems that Iran is currently dealing with.

The U.S. and its Western allies suspect Iran of developing a nuclear weapon - something that Iran denies. The Islamic Republic has on numerous occasions stated that it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, using nuclear energy for medical researches instead.

Dorsey noted that Iran's nuclear policy strikes an emotional nationalist cord and has popular support.

"In many ways, for both the nuclear issue is not the ultimate issue. Iranians are convinced that US policy aims at regime change grounded in perceptions dating back to the 1953 overthrow of Mossadegh," Dorsey believes. "For their part, US perceptions of Iran are rooted in the 1979 occupation of the US embassy in Tehran. Both countries need to get beyond those perceptions."

The 1953 Iranian coup d'etat (known in Iran as the 28 Mordad coup) was the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Iran, and its head of government Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh on August 19, 1953, orchestrated by the United Kingdom (under the name 'Operation Boot') and the United States (under the name TPAJAX Project).

The coup saw the formation of a military government under Mohammad-Reza Shah Pahlavi, who progressed from a constitutional monarch to an authoritarian one who relied heavily on United States support to hold on power until his own overthrow in February 1979.

Speaking of the international sanctions on Iran, Dorsey said that the biting sanctions against Iran moreover are having not only an economic but also a psychological impact.

"Obviously, Iran's economic difficulty as a result of the sanctions is closely linked to its relations with western nations. Resolving the nuclear issue is a key to open a door," Dorsey said.

Since 2006, UN Security Council has adopted six rounds of resolutions on Iran, four of which are economic sanctions.

Iran is being pressured by the Western states to force Iran to step away from its nuclear activities, that are of peaceful nature according to the Islamic Republic.