iran panorama

  By Struan Stevenson A special consultative meeting was held in Tehran last week, headed by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. The meeting was attended by former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, who called for the Iranian regime to enter into a new comprehensive political dialogue with the West, including the US, to normalize relations and end the diplomatic discord that has persisted since the Islamic Revolution brought the mullahs to power in 1979. It was a blatant attempt to relaunch the tired, old, hard-line versus moderate fairy tale that has been a hallmark of Ali Akbar Salehi’s tactics for years. Salehi successfully persuaded the West that he represented a ‘moderate’ faction within the Iranian regime’s hierarchy when he was Minister of Foreign Affairs under the rule of former ultra-hard-line conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He tried to re-emphasize his credentials as a restrained and mild-mannered soft-liner when he assumed the presidency of the...

  By Dr. Majid Rafizadeh For almost two years, the world powers known as the P5+1 — the UK, France, Russia, China and the US, plus Germany — have been advocating for a revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which is also known as the Iran nuclear deal. But after several rounds of negotiations, which did not bring any positive results, the international community does not appear to have any articulate agenda or alternative plan to adequately address Iran’s nuclear program and defiance. The main problem is that time is on the side of the Iranian leaders. Time always plays a critical role in talks. In other words, time can impact the basic processes of negotiators’ cognition and motivation. As a result, the more a negotiating party is constrained by time, the more likely it will be to make concessions in order to reach an agreement. Due to the fact that time is on the side of the Iranian regime, the Raisi administration has shown no sense of urgency in returning to the neg...

  Written by Moussa Afshar While Western powers zealously pursue the talks to resurrect the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, reports indicate the clerical regime’s rapid approach to enrich weapon-grade uranium, which is in line with its provocative nuclear activities.   On Tuesday, a report by  Reuters confirmed  that the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog is currently engaged in talks with Iran regarding the source of uranium particles that have been enriched to a purity of up to 83.7% at its Fordow enrichment facility. This level of enrichment is extremely close to what is required for the production of nuclear weapons.   According to CNN , the U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl stated on Tuesday that Tehran could produce enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb in just 12 days.  Kahl’s assessment offers a stark warning as Iran continues to breach the restrictions set out by the nuclear agreement, and efforts to restore the deal...

  By Dr. Majid Rafizadeh The latest developments indicate that the Iranian regime is heading toward becoming a nuclear state, which will have significant repercussions for regional and global peace and security. The regime is pressing ahead with uranium enrichment and is infringing all the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal. The regime is reportedly only one month away from having enough material to fuel a single nuclear weapon, while Iranian leaders are showing no interest in returning to the negotiating table to revive the nuclear pact. As the International Atomic Energy Agency reported this month: “Since 23 February 2021, the agency’s verification and monitoring activities have been seriously undermined as a result of Iran’s decision to stop the implementation of its nuclear-related commitments.” The dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran must not be underestimated for several reasons. First of all, Iran is not a rational state; rather it is a revolutionary on...

  If there were any lingering doubts that the Iranian regime is accelerating its nuclear program despite Western engagement, they should be set aside after two recent reports by the UN nuclear watchdog. Western parties, especially the European Union, should rethink their feckless policy and negotiations vis-à-vis the theocratic regime. The policy of appeasement has failed. On Tuesday, the International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA ) released two reports that revealed the regime’s illicit nuclear activities and obstruction of monitoring activities by the agency. The IAEA also warned that the regime has 10 kilograms of uranium enriched at near-weapons grade level. In addition, Tehran has stockpiled more than 80 kilograms of 20 percent enriched uranium. Under the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, the regime is not allowed to enrich uranium above 3.5 percent. Therefore, Tehran is in clear violation of the nuclear accord. The IAEA warned that its verification and monitoring activities have...