TEHRAN(Bazaar) – Tariq Raouf, former Director General of the Atomic Energy Agency says US compliance with the JCPOA cannot be guaranteed either by Democrats or by Republicans.
Following is the text of the Bazaar interview with Tariq Raouf:
Bazaar: Ali Bagheri Kani, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs said Wednesday that the Vienna talks with the aim of removal of the US sanctions will start on November 29. What is your assessment of this?
Rauf: This would be an overdue and welcome development. We are half way through Biden's presidency and the JCPOA remains in difficulties for nearly 3 years now. The US does not have an independent Iran policy, or Middle East policy; this is driven by Israel according to a former US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs - and the AIPAC pro-Israel lobby in the US has bought out nearly everyone in Congress - hence US Iran; policy is generally under Israeli influence. As such, most sanctions on Iran will remain and not be lifted.
Bazaar: President Ebrahim Raeisi said that "As Iran has announced before, we will not leave the negotiating table," adding that Iran wants result-oriented negotiations to remove oppressive US sanctions. Do you think that the result that Iran is seeking will be achieved in the negotiations?
Rauf: At this stage a full roll back of JCPOA to 15 July 2015 format is no longer feasible or practical. Hence no point wasting time discussing this. The way forward now is for Iran's nuclear programme to continue under IAEA verification, Iran's return to implementing the Additional Protocol, closing the book on the "nuclear archives" stolen from Iran by Israel, for Iran to use its 60% enriched uranium for nuclear-powered oil tankers and nuclear-powered submarines. For the nuclear-powered submarines, Iran could use the paragraph 14 exemption under its NPT/IAEA safeguards agreement just as Australia is planning to do when supplied with nuclear-powered submarines by the US/UK.
Bazaar: Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia Permanent Representative for Vienna-based International Organizations said that all participants in the negotiations for the resumption of the implementation of the JCPOA call for a result-oriented dialogue. He told cautiously optimistic about the outlook for the next round of Vienna talks. His words seem to be a response to Ebrahim Raisi. What is your assessment of Russia's recent position? Ulyanov has been sharply critical of Iran for the delay in the Vienna talks in recent month.
Rauf: Russia needs to continue with its contracts for Bushehr nuclear power plant Units 1 and 2, and for a third nuclear power reactor at Darkhovin. Hence to counter US/EU pressure, Russia wants Iran to normalize its adherence to the JCPOA. But Russia has no leverage over the US/EU in the Vienna JCPOA talks.
Bazaar: Republicans in U.S. Congress announced that as soon as the Republican Party regains a majority in Congress, it will immediately rescind any agreement between the Biden administration and the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to the Washington Free Beacon, the Republican MPs said their clear message to the Islamic Republic of Iran was: “Joe Biden does not have the authority to promise the permanent lifting of sanctions of Iran.” Based on this, how does the Biden government want to guarantee the stability of the JCPOA?
Rauf: yes, US compliance with the JCPOA cannot be guaranteed either by Democrats or by Republicans. As noted above, US Iran policy is mainly made in Israel. In any case, the US has not been complying with many of its obligations. Iran needs to be on guard against further cyber and other sabotages of nuclear facilities, assassinations of scientists, and generally observing very high security and putting up a strong deterrent against any military attack. Further, Iran needs to mend its relations with the Saudis and Emirates.
نظر شما