Iran's Rouhani in rush to solve nuclear issue : expert
Iran's president Hassan Rouhani is in a rush to solve the
country's nuclear issue both because of Iran's current situation
and because he needs to quickly show results, Senior fellow at
Nanyang Technological University's S. Rajaratnam School of
International Studies, James M. Dorsey told Trend.
Not long ago, Rouhani stated that he wants to reach a nuclear deal
with the West, within 3 or 6 months.
"The devil is always in the detail. Just how difficult a deal will
become evident when negotiators sit down to flesh out the detail,"
Dorsey explained. "Rouhani is probably to a great extent aware of
what it will take to conclude a deal given that he has experience
as a nuclear negotiator."
Dorsey went on to say that "three to six months is optimistic but
confidence building will certainly help."
Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is set to lead the
nuclear talks from Iranian side, and in one of his latest
interviews he said that country's right to peaceful nuclear
enrichment was not negotiable, however adding that Iran doesn't
need to enrich uranium to military-grade levels.
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 believes holding the talks on nuclear issue on the level of
foreign minister is beneficial for both sides.
"Raising the level to that of foreign ministers give the talks
increased importance and means that negotiations are taking place
between officials who are real players in policy making," he said.
"It also raises the pressure to produce results."
"This also constitutes recognition of the fact that the new foreign
minister of Iran who has already taken a very different tone from
his predecessor is the chief negotiator," Dorsey added. "It will
also help clarify quickly whether a deal is possible."
In late September, the meeting between Iranian negotiating team led
by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met with his counterparts
from the country-members of the P5+1 group on the sidelines of the
U.N. General Assembly in New York.
The talks were aimed at jump-starting efforts to resolve a
decade-long standoff over Iran's nuclear ambitions.
U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry shook hands with Foreign
Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on the sidelines of the United
Nations in one of the foes' highest-level encounters since the 1979
Islamic Revolution. It was the first meeting between a U.S.
secretary of state and an Iranian foreign minister since a brief
encounter in May 2007.
Also, Iranian and U.S. presidents Hassan Rouhani and Barack Obama
spoke by phone last Friday, in the highest-level contact between
the two countries in three decades.
Reuters has recently reported that John Kerry said a deal on Iran's
nuclear weapons program could be reached relatively quickly, and it
would have the potential to dramatically improve the relationship
between the two countries.
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