28 Mar 2024
Saturday 11 July 2015 - 10:04
Story Code : 171351

Trust deficit in Vienna

TEHRAN (FNA)- Two years ago when Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei gave the go-ahead to nuclear negotiations with the West it was for one reason only: To prove to the international community that the United States suffers from trust deficit and has no interest in international diplomacy.

He couldnt be more accurate. On Thursday, July 9, after marathon talks in Vienna and just when everyone thought a deal was finally on the table between Iran and the P5+1 group, the Americans torpedoed the Lausanne Interim Agreement for a third time in a row!

This is not an odd insistence. All the indications from the past couple of weeks were that the Americans would certainly shift their demands again, changing their positions, walking back previous concessions, preventing a likely deal and causing a new extension. Lest we forget they were the ones that asked for the negotiations, and they are the ones desperate to get a deal done.

Its hard to fathom the complexities hidden in an 85-page text. Also, there is little detail on what exactly the new disputes are, though differences between the P5+1 (the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China), lifting of arms embargo, Research and Development, and indefinitely extending the Joint Action Plan are among the sticking points.

Secretary of State John Kerry is free to claim the US might pull out in any minute. But he can be certain there will be major diplomatic backlash, not just in Iran but also across the globe, particularly when the negotiators were so close to a deal. He should not let anti-deal agendas distort the nature of the risks and rewards at stake for his country and for the cause of international peace and security either.

Perhaps, the clueless American withdrew from the prior deal after a teleconference with President Barack Obama - to gamble on a quick Iranian concession or to greatly prolong the negotiations. But the fact remains that Iran will never cross its stated red lines.

Russia and China are going along. They have rejected the demand that UN sanctions be lifted only for six months at a time, subject to renewal, which the US could veto and snap sanctions back into place without being blocked by Russia and China.

That the American negotiators have been pushing these suspicious positions reveals much of what Irans Leader Ayatollah Khamenei once warned: The US cannot not be trusted even if a deal is struck.

This crisis has been manufactured, and whatever anyone is saying now, it is a fair bet that events would outpace all American plans and fantasies in the explosive months to come. To avoid this likely nightmare, the best option for the Americans is to accept normal rules governing international treaties, and prepare themselves for a fair deal.

To resurrect its position in the Middle East and around the world, the US must let go of its weapon of choice in foreign policy: sanctions.

By Fars News Agency
https://theiranproject.com/vdchmznzz23nqxd.01t2.html
Your Name
Your Email Address