The White House reaction to the inauguration of Iran’s new president, which said that Tehran would find a willing partner in the U.S. should it choose to engage, was good, but U.S. President Barack Obama has also to overcome the belligerence of Congress, the Guardian said in an editorial published on Sunday.
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TERAN (Asremrooz):Following are excerpts of the text of the article:
The inauguration of a new president in Iran is an opportunity for sending messages and Hassan Rohani did not waste it. He told America in his inauguration speech yesterday (Sunday) that if it wanted an adequate response from Iran, it should not speak in the language of sanctions.
Mr. Rohani is not a reformist. He is a centrist who has kept lines of communication open to most of Iran’s power centers. Whether or not Mr. Rohani succeeds does not depend solely on power centers in Iran. There is a current of thought in U.S. and EU policy-making circles that regards the emergence of a moderate in Mr. Rohani as the product of international pressure and of sanctions. Ratchet the sanctions up further, as the U.S. House of Representatives has just attempted to do, and Iran will bend a little further, or so this theory goes.
It could not be more ill-judged. The anti-sanctions movement in Iran is broadly based. The movement comprises reformists and conservatives alike, and in seeking to lift the sanctions yoke, Mr. Rohani is speaking for everyone in Iran.
Starting to lift the sanctions will require more than just the evidence of Iranian moves towards a solution to the question of nuclear enrichment. It will need political will, and the spending of political capital.
The White House reaction, which said that Tehran would find a willing partner in the U.S. should it choose to engage, was good, but Barack Obama has also to overcome the belligerence of Congress. While the White House did not like the house’s bill, it did not spend time in trying to amend it.
Mr. Rohani has already been once round the track of compromise and failure. As chief nuclear negotiator under President Mohammad Khatami, Iran agreed for the first time to stop enriching uranium and allowed more international scrutiny of the Iranian program. Again, the interpretation of Iran’s motives for suspending enrichment is a matter of debate, but the fact is it happened and failed to achieve a reciprocal move from the then Bush administration. Total suspension of enrichment is not on the cards today, but Mr. Rohani will be cautious not to allow himself to be as exposed to the criticism as he was then that he was too soft with the U.S. and got nothing in return. The lesson for Mr. Obama is not to cut the ground from underneath Mr. Rohani’s feet a second time.
In negotiating with Iran, a vision unimpeded by wishful thinking is essential. But an appreciation of how much worse this could get if another (Persian) Gulf war were to be sparked by an attack on Iran’s nuclear installation is also needed. If a deal is there to be done with Iran, it should be seized.
The inauguration of a new president in Iran is an opportunity for sending messages and Hassan Rohani did not waste it. He told America in his inauguration speech yesterday (Sunday) that if it wanted an adequate response from Iran, it should not speak in the language of sanctions.
Mr. Rohani is not a reformist. He is a centrist who has kept lines of communication open to most of Iran’s power centers. Whether or not Mr. Rohani succeeds does not depend solely on power centers in Iran. There is a current of thought in U.S. and EU policy-making circles that regards the emergence of a moderate in Mr. Rohani as the product of international pressure and of sanctions. Ratchet the sanctions up further, as the U.S. House of Representatives has just attempted to do, and Iran will bend a little further, or so this theory goes.
It could not be more ill-judged. The anti-sanctions movement in Iran is broadly based. The movement comprises reformists and conservatives alike, and in seeking to lift the sanctions yoke, Mr. Rohani is speaking for everyone in Iran.
Starting to lift the sanctions will require more than just the evidence of Iranian moves towards a solution to the question of nuclear enrichment. It will need political will, and the spending of political capital.
The White House reaction, which said that Tehran would find a willing partner in the U.S. should it choose to engage, was good, but Barack Obama has also to overcome the belligerence of Congress. While the White House did not like the house’s bill, it did not spend time in trying to amend it.
Mr. Rohani has already been once round the track of compromise and failure. As chief nuclear negotiator under President Mohammad Khatami, Iran agreed for the first time to stop enriching uranium and allowed more international scrutiny of the Iranian program. Again, the interpretation of Iran’s motives for suspending enrichment is a matter of debate, but the fact is it happened and failed to achieve a reciprocal move from the then Bush administration. Total suspension of enrichment is not on the cards today, but Mr. Rohani will be cautious not to allow himself to be as exposed to the criticism as he was then that he was too soft with the U.S. and got nothing in return. The lesson for Mr. Obama is not to cut the ground from underneath Mr. Rohani’s feet a second time.
In negotiating with Iran, a vision unimpeded by wishful thinking is essential. But an appreciation of how much worse this could get if another (Persian) Gulf war were to be sparked by an attack on Iran’s nuclear installation is also needed. If a deal is there to be done with Iran, it should be seized.
Source : خبرگزاری Mehr News
Code : 60937
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