Hassan Rohani, a veteran Iranian politician, has been elected as the seventh president of the Islamic Republic of Iran after winning an absolute majority of the votes cast by the Iranian nation. In his first press conference after being elected president, Hassan Rohani put high emphasis on following up on the foreign policy discourse of the previous reformist President Mohammad Khatami. Khatami’s foreign policy discourse was actually based on reducing tension and promoting constructive interaction with the world. Rohani is now hoping that revival of that policy will open a new window of opportunity for the resolution of Iran’s nuclear standoff with the West. It can be concluded from what Rohani said that during his term in office as the president of Iran, the country will seek to take its nuclear dossier out of the United Nations Security Council, while pursuing gradual reduction of international sanctions against Iran, and having its right to peaceful use of nuclear technology recognized within framework of international regulations. Since the track records of Rohani prove that his approach is based on interaction with the world, his election has provided both the West and Iran with a good opportunity to achieve a final agreement on the nuclear issue. Reaching an agreement with Iran will lead to a domino effect which will result in further expansion of bilateral relations between Iran and the West as well as the promotion of peace and security in the Middle East and the world.
It should be noted that the West should have no illogical expectation from Iran following election of Hassan Rohani as president. The power structure in Iran is such that Rohani is only one of the main players in designing the country’s foreign policy approaches, not the sole player. Of course, due to the powerful social waves which emerged in favor of Rohani both before and during the presidential race, he will be certainly able to forge a consensus in the Iranian power structure for the promotion of the foreign policy discourse which he deems most fit. However, to achieve a constructive agreement with Iran, the West should come up with a well-defined modality to increase transparency of Iran’s nuclear energy program and prevent its possible diversion toward military purposes, rather than making efforts to deprive Iran from its inalienable right. Like a successful trade, a successful diplomacy should be based on dealing in commodities which are of equal value. Therefore, any kind of agreement and reconciliation between Iran and the West should be based on this form of trade. Seyed Salman Safavi, a professor of political science at the University of Tehran, has expressed this notion in a reasonable way by saying, “It is natural for bilateral trade to be carried out in steps, but it should involve ‘cash for cash’.” This means that any action that Iran takes should be in response to a mutual and simultaneous action by the West. As a result, the policy of demanding ‘cash’ from Iran in return for the ‘credit’ of the West would be no longer acceptable and constructive. Therefore, the West cannot ask Iran for changing the existing reality with regard to its nuclear achievements (cash) in return for the West’s pledge that no more sanctions will be imposed against Tehran (credit).
The main goal that Iran seeks to achieve is to make peaceful use of the nuclear energy. The country is also following up on its nuclear rights in accordance with the stipulations and provisions of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Therefore, the West should know the value of Rohani’s term in office as the president of the Islamic Republic and make the most of the existing conditions in order to be able to find a realistic way out of the ongoing nuclear tension with Iran. The West, especially the United States, is no more in a position to wield the threat of a military strike against Iran as a stick because posing military threat against a country which has had massive support of its people through a healthy election would be considered by international community as totally irrational. On the other hand, the recent election will provide an immense source of soft power to support Iran’s foreign policy. Let’s not forget that a foreign military threat would be only effective against those governments that suffer from lack of legitimacy among their people.
Iran under its new President Rohani will be certainly nothing similar to Iraq under the country’s former dictator Saddam Hussein. It will not be even similar to what Afghanistan was under the rule of Taliban or the situation in Libya under the rule of the North African country’s deposed despot, Muammar Gaddafi. As a result, no threat of military action can have great effect on it. Of course, this was true about Iran before Rohani as well. It is noteworthy that imposition of economic sanctions by the West against Iran has been perhaps a reason why people voted for Rohani. However, it would be catastrophic for the West to assume that by escalation and continuation of sanctions against Iran it would be able to bring Iran to its knees. The point that the West should bear in mind is that only about 50 percent of the Iranian people have voted for Rohani’s discourse and other rival discourses still continue to play their role in Iran’s political environment.
This article was originally published at IranReview.org and has been used here with permission.
This article points out some of the key issues that the West faces in dealing with Iran: a country’s natural rights, and the role of other nations in guaranteeing and limiting those same rights. As the article mentions, Iranian nuclear facilities are too far developed to prevent Iran from at the least, developing peaceful nuclear facilities, and with Rowhani at the helm and Khomeini keen to appear a fair leader, it may be in the best interests of the West and Israel to negotiate and find a way to emphasize moderation in Iran than to attempt a military strike that would be heavily criticized. But at the same time, the West must be cautious of rising tensions and Iran’s strategic plans to become a dominant regional player, as seen in their moves towards Syria detailed in these articles: http://jcpa.org/hassan-rowhani-a-honey-trap-for-iran-and-the-world/ and http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/06/17/iran-rowhani-new-president.html.
Mr.Roberts;
Iran will be judged solely by it’s acts;Israel will never accept Iran’s nuclear bomb capacity and will probably strike one minute before Iran manages to complete the bomb.Iran has many times threatened to wipe Israel off the map.But Iran must also accept the fact that it will cease to exist if it tries.
One does not negotiate with Hitlers and ayyatolahs;only with a fully democratic,peaceful countries.Iran has shown through his behaviour lately that it wants to dominate the Middle East,not to spread peace.
Servocad, as a frequent visitor to this site, you must know that there is no evidence Iran has a nuclear weapons program, and, furthermore, that the claim Iran has threatened to “wipe Israel off the map” is a fabrication of Western propaganda.
Dr.Omidi must try something better than spreading fairytales about Iran’s “rights”to nuclear bomb…Dr.Omidi, as well as the whole present theocratic dictatorship of Iran,understand one thing:the international community just DOES NOT TRUST IRANIAN’S SWEET TALK ANY MORE.IRAN WILL BE JUDGED SOLELY BY IT’S acts-meaning the complete and full stop on all nuclear weapons’programs.
The biggest Iranian lie is,of course that the nuclear program serves the purpose of “peaceful”energy development;Iran DOES NOT NEED NUCLEAR POWER,having one of the world’s biggest oil reserves.
Finally, Dr.Omidi must know and understand that Israel will do all it can in order to stop Iran from having nuclear capacity,in view of the Iranian threats of wiping Isrel off the map.Iran will cease to exist if it tries it.
Servocad, as a frequent visitor to this site, you must know that there is no evidence Iran has a nuclear weapons program, and, furthermore, that the claim Iran has threatened to “wipe Israel off the map” is a fabrication of Western propaganda.
Sorry servocad but Iran is democratic, and supported by China and Russia (to name but two countries), or do you think China or Russia are not part of the “International Community”?
I`m all for judging countries by their actions, 200 years have passed since Iran took aggressive action (against Russia funnily enough), that`s more than 3 times longer than the time the State of Israel has existed and attacked (several times) all her neighbours creating 6 million Palestinian refugees.
Iran`s nuclear power stations are now contributing electricity to Iran`s power grid, and why not? more of their oil can be sold.
Iran has REPEATEDLY said they have no desire for nuclear weapons!
Israel has had, for many years, nuclear warheads, and since the US supplied Harpoon Cruse missiles, Israel has had an effective delivery system for her submarine fleet.
I suppose servocad will claim Israeli nuclear weapons are simply “Magic Moondust” and the delivery system no more than “Friendly Persuasion”.
I`m all for debate, but really servocad, keep it sensible,