President Obama is defending the global agreement to curtail Iran’s nuclear program as critics of the deal are accusing the White House of appeasement. The deal reached Tuesday will see Iran reduce its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98 percent and cut its number of centrifuges by two-thirds. In exchange, Iran will see an easing of international sanctions that have battered the economy, causing food insecurity and medication shortages.
Seyed Hossein Mousavian talking:
it was the U.S. conventional understanding that if they put sanctions, Iranians, they would give up the nuclear program. That’s why they referred Iranian nuclear file in 2006 to United Nations Security Council, and they imposed six resolutions with draconian sanctions. And Europeans also, they went beyond United Nations Security Council sanctions: They imposed sanctions on central bank and oil, unilateral sanctions, multilateral sanctions, U.N. sanctions, since 2006. Then, they all believed Iran would give up.
But sanctions pushed Iran to increase its nuclear capacity. Before sanctions, Iranians, they had a few hundred centrifuges; after sanctions, 22,000 centrifuges. Before sanctions, Iranians, they were enriching below 5 percent; after sanctions, they were enriching to 20 percent. Before sanctions, Iranians, they were working with one model of centrifuges; after sanctions, eight models of centrifuges, extremely developed centrifuges, during the sanction period.
And then, suddenly, the U.S. opened its eyes and saw Iran has just three months to break out. And definitely, they would resist sanctions for more three months, even more three years, but they would pass the breakout. And then the U.S. would have to negotiate with Iran after breakout, which would have to give a lot of concessions. Here, the U.S. and the world powers, they understood the sanctions have been completely counterproductive. The sanctions pushed Iran toward expanding enormously its nuclear program. That’s why they came to negotiate. This was number one.
Number two, if you look at the principles agreed July 14th, 2015, you would see this is exactly the same principles we proposed EU3, which that time they were our interlocutors, in March 2005, during President Khatami, when I was a spokesperson of nuclear file of Iran. The same principles before sanctions, we gave to Europeans. But Europeans, they could not make a deal with us, because the U.S. position was zero enrichment. Iranians, they were saying, Iran cannot have enrichment. Iran should be the only member of NPT, Non-Proliferation Treaty, to be singled out, to be discriminized, not to have this right. And Iranians definitely were not ready to accept. This was practically the two reasons we could not make the deal. And exactly these are the two reasons we could make the deal just some days ago.
The argument of Senator Graham and other senators opposing the deal and Prime Minister Netanyahu and some Arab allies of the U.S. is that the deal would strengthen, empower Iranians to increase their regional hegemony and aggression and invasion. This is the argument they make.
Let’s to be realistic and sincere to the public opinion. In last five decades, Israel has invaded six times its neighbors. Saudi Arabia, in last five, six years, has invaded militarily two countries: Bahrain and Yemen. United States of America, in last 15 years, has invaded twice: One has attacked Afghanistan, and once has attacked Iraq. And NATO, which the U.S. also participated, Arab allies participated, they attacked Libya. All these military invasions have created the region today we see. They have made the region completely unstable. Some countries, they have collapsed. Some countries are at the verge of collapse. Terrorists have been spread all over the region.
Iranians, during the last 200 years, have never invaded any country. And Iranians, they are the only country in the region which they were attacked, invaded by Arabs. Saddam Hussein invaded Iran in 1980, for eight years killing, injuring over a million Iranians. Iranians are the only country after Second World War have been bombarded by chemical weapons. Saddam used chemical weapons. The United States of America, unfortunately, the Europeans, they provided material and technology for Saddam Hussein to use weapons of mass destruction against Iranians, chemical weapons, killing and injuring 100,000 Iranians.
Now Iran is blamed. Who did all these aggressions? Who made the region a mess? It was not really Iran. Iran is helping Iraq to fight ISIS. It is true. Iran has been invited by Iraqi government to help, because no other country is ready to help by military in ground. Iran is helping, is the biggest country, the most important country, helping Iraq to fight ISIS in Iraq and in Syria. Who are funding this ISIS, these terrorists? They are U.S. allies in the region. Vice President Joe Biden said last year, very clearly, in Harvard, that our main problem in the region are our own allies. They are funding terrorists. They are giving weapon to terrorists. It was stated officially by the vice president of the U.S. Therefore, why Iran should be blamed because of hegemony, because of invasion of other countries? We can see the record of the U.S., Arab allies in the region, Israelis, invading frequently, creating wars. And Iranians, in the last two centuries, have never invaded any country. Therefore, I really believe that totally the argument is baseless and is misleading the public opinion. American public opinion, they know very well American invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan cost them trillions of dollars, thousands of American lives, and caused such a mess in the region. Iran should not be blamed for such a situation.
the stability and integrity of Syria is threatened by ISIS. They are now taking over about half of Syria. And if Assad collapse, the alternative is ISIS. Joe Biden was right that the U.S. allies made a big mistake to support the terrorists to fight Assad, because they have created such a situation in Syria. We should think: Assad is better, or ISIS?
Iranians, they believe Assad is better than ISIS. Iranians, they believe they should support Assad to fight ISIS. This is exactly what they are doing in Iraq. They are helping Iraqi government to fight ISIS. I believe the U.S., international community, they should join Iran to help Assad to fight ISIS, to clean Syria from terrorists, then find a peaceful transitional solution for resolving the Syrian crisis to have a free election.
There isn’t aid from other countries to Iran. The money is, first, from the blocked Iranian assets. These are Iranian assets. This is Iranian money, definitely. This is their own money, which would be released. However, when they lift the sanctions, of course, Iranian economy would function much better.
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Seyed Hossein Mousavian, associate research scholar at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He is a former diplomat who, from 1990 to 1997, served as Iran’s ambassador to Germany. From 1997 to 2005, he was the head of the Foreign Relations Committee of Iran’s National Security Council. From 2003 to 2005, he served as spokesman for Iran in its nuclear negotiations with the European Union. He is the author of The Iranian Nuclear Crisis: A Memoir and, most recently, Iran and the United States: An Insider’s view on the Failed Past and the Road to Peace.
— source democracynow.org