Iran and the West

The difficult relationship between Iran and the West

The always difficult relationship between Iran and the Western world suddenly seemed to turn for the best after the signing of the nuclear deal.

The always difficult relationship between Iran and the Western world suddenly seemed to turn for the best after the signing of the nuclear deal. The JCPOA explicitly committed Tehran to a purely peaceful nuclear with limitations also on the conventional missile arsenal, as became clear shortly after the signing of the treaty. The agreement promised a lot in terms of technology exchange and foreign investment, despite the new economic sanctions that Obama's America had already imposed in the aftermath of the signing. However, it seemed to many that this was the correct way, the only one, to normalize relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran, the United States and Europe.

Unfortunately, the unilateral withdrawal from the Treaty by President Trump has completely wrecked the dream of the JCPOA. The elimination of General Soleimani in a drone attack ordered by the Americans then placed the tombstone on relations between Tehran and Washington, at least during the presidency of The Donald [1].

With the American withdrawal from the Treaty and the expiration of the international arms embargo, Iran has decided to have a free hand in deciding its future but the assassination a few days ago of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a leading scientist of the Iranian nuclear program, has reopened the season of targeted killings carried out by foreign powers against the Iranian country, whose most important personalities have returned to being prey to be hunted and eliminated.

The world has paid very little attention to all this, reacting distractedly to those who stressed the danger of an approach that flouts international law and transforms a sovereign country into a free hunting territory.

It is evident, however, that Iranians have a painfully different view of the problem.

Pooya Mirzaei is an Iranian Journalist and Analyst. He is Editor in Chief for Political Economy Journal [2] and Director General of Nournews English [3]. His is expert on Middle East issues, Foreign Policy, International security and Geopolitics and he has agreed to answer some of our questions about these new, disturbing, events.

1) Which dialogue with Washington is realistically possible after Trump's unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear agreement? In particular, does JCPOA still exist for Teheran?

A) In the world of politics everything is possible on the condition of securing and ensuring the national interest. However, if you mean to negotiate with Washington is the U.S. return to the JCPOA, it should be said that there is no need to renegotiate and the procedure is clear. This means that if the United States is truly honest, while compensating for the damage inflicted on Iran as a result of Trump's unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA, the lifting of all sanctions, the delivery of all sanctions, the handover of the perpetrators in assassination of General Soleimani and Haj Abu Mahdi al-Mohandas, and the imposition of strong legal and executive guarantees for the survival of the JCPOA and fulfilling its obligations; it can return to the table of the same agreement signed in 2015. But if you mean negotiating new topics, no common sense will again give in to a failed experience with a government that lies easily and does not accept its signature.

2) The diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang made clear that missiles and nuclear bombs make the difference. Does Teheran risk becoming completely defenceless if it accepts again the conditions required by the Americans?

A) Iran has shown that it is always committed to all international standards, and Iran's survival in the JCPOA is a clear indication of this claim, despite the U.S. withdrawal from it and Europeans' lack of commitment. On the other hand, the United States has always shown that it has no honesty in its speech and behavior. On its way, Iran trusted the West and chose the path of engagement, but the United States and Europe betrayed that trust. The North Korean model showed how to treat a great liar like the U.S. Of course, Iran has maintained its deterrent elements in accordance with international customs and standards all this time, despite many sanctions, and that is why the United States does not dare to make mistakes. In the following way, even if all the conditions for a renegotiation are provided, Iran will certainly not back down or negotiate any red lines and its power-building elements, particularly its peaceful missile program.

3) The West stands with Tel-Aviv and ignores the Palestinians: what is the Jewish state for Teheran?

A) This question shows that you have also realized the nature of the West's differences with Iran. In other words, What the West exactly wants from Iran, is nothing but complete dependence and renunciation of its beliefs, because it knows that Iran has a problem with the nature of occupation, aggression, coercion, crime, etc., and as long as these factors exist in the framework of Western-Zionist policies, no agreement can be reached. Therefore, Zionism and the United States, as its supporters, will not be content with anything but the destruction of Iran and Iranians, as if despite the compromise of some Palestinian groups, Israel continues to oppress and kill them.

4) Mohsen Fakhrizadeh's death was easily attributed to Israel, obsessed with the possibility of Tehran obtaining atomic weapons. Is an agreement with Tel-Aviv possible or the only thing that unites Israel and Iran is the abyss that separates them?

A) Martyr Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was a scientist and a completely scientific figure who had done many services to the Iranian people in various fields, but the Zionist media falsely introduced him as the director of the nuclear weapons production and military nuclear project. As I said before, Iran not only adheres to international standards, but also basically does not believe in the production and maintenance of mass destruction weapons. Nuclear knowledge is not a forbidden knowledge and like many other sciences it has many benefits for the people, but the enemies of Iran, because they themselves are evil and use science and knowledge to kill people, think that the Iranians also have evil thoughts. The usurping Zionist regime had repeatedly stated that it would assassinate Fakhrizadeh, and in the end they did it, and although they do not officially accept responsibility for it, all the evidences are against them and they will pay for it definitely.

[1] https://pejournal.online/biden-wants-to-recover-jcpoa/

[2] https://pejournal.online/

[3] https://nournews.ir/En/

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Costantino Ceoldo

Photo: By Bontenbal - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13502746