New York, Oct 12, IRNA – Former US diplomat Dennis Jett has said President Barack Obama’s reference to a fatwa by the Supreme Leader on nuclear weapons was an act of confidence-building at the highest political level.
Jett said that President Obama’s move was also a message to the Iranian leadership stressing that Washington was considering words of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Speaking to IRNA in a recent exclusive interview, Jett, the US ambassador to Mozambique and Peru under the Clinton administration and a special assistant to the president, said President Obama was trying to tell Iranian authorities and their leadership that he was considering Ayatollah Khamenei’s fatwa on prohibiting production and use of nuclear weapons and that he was trying his chance for reaching an agreement with Iran.

Jett who is currently a professor of international relations at the School of International Affairs at the Pennsylvania State University, added that by referring to the fatwa, President Obama was to prove that he was not influenced by pro-war ideas on dealing with Iran and that he was seeking a peaceful solution to Iran’s nuclear dispute with the West instead of choosing the military option.

Jett added that President Obama’s move has also sent a message to the American public opinion, stressing that they should leave the prevailing pessimism about Iran’s nuclear program and give a chance to Tehran.

President Obama was to tell both Americans and Iranians that he was different from his predecessor and that he was willing to test the course of diplomacy and negotiations, Jett stressed.

By IRNA

 

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