Time for a deal with Tehran, a reliable partner against the Islamic State group
Rome (AsiaNews) – This is crucial week for an agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue. The 5+1 group of great powers (US, Russia, Britain, France, China and Germany) and Iran are set to meet tomorrow in Lausanne.
In the Swiss city, they have time until 31 March to reach a framework agreement that would reassure the international community with regard to the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for lifting 30-years of economic and financial sanctions on Iran.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamed Javad Zarif are set to meet for direct discussions on Thursday. Both are cautiously optimistic that the full deal can be worked out by the 30 June deadline.
However, others are pushing against it. Leading the pack in the United States is a faction of the Republican Party led by Senator John McCain, who vowed to "do everything in our power" to stop the agreement or hold a vote in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Israel is also against an agreement. Not only has Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threaten to launch an air strike against Iranian nuclear sites, but Israel has even been accused of spying on international negotiations to thwart it.
In Israel’s recent election, Netanyahu centred his campaign on the "Iranian threat" and the ''nuclear nightmare" scenario, with little time left for economic issues and peace with the Palestinians.
The same goes for Saudi Arabia. Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal yesterday said, “It is impossible to give Iran deals it does not deserve,” because, in his view, Iran was conducting “aggressive policies, and interfering in the countries of the region and [seeking to] acquire a nuclear weapon that threatens regional and international security.”
The impression one gets is that those opposed to an agreement have ulterior motives, and that they raise issues that are not closely related to Iran’s nuclear programme.
As for any substantive threat, inspectors from the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have always said that they never found evidence of weaponised uranium.
Netanyahu himself, who three years ago the UN had declared that Iran would have a nuclear bomb in a few months, was contradicted by Israeli Intelligence.
Last April in Tehran, Nuncio Leo Boccardo – who has been for years the Vatican observer to the IAEA in Vienna – told AsiaNews that "in all the IAEA documents, in the hundreds of inspections made by it [the UN agency], there is no evidence that Iran is preparing a nuclear bomb."
It is true that Iran, especially under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, did nothing to erase the world’s suspicions. Not only did the latter claim that Tehran had as much a right to have the bomb as does Israel (the only country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons), but IAEA inspections slowed down during his presidency, and he repeatedly threatened Israel, and denied the Holocaust.
However, under Hassan Rouhani, Iran appears eager to be get back into the international community, sending conciliatory signals in all directions: towards Israel, the United States and even Saudi Arabia.
Tehran is also involved in mediation efforts in the Middle East. In fact, Tehran played a role in getting Syrian President Bashar Assad to sign the Chemical Weapons Convention and dismantle the regime’s chemical arsenal.
Tehran has also curbed Shia militias in Iraq, helping to create an Iraqi government that is more open to Sunnis.
Iranian forces are also directly involved in fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. This is why Iran is closer to the West than Saudi Arabia, whose relationship towards the jihadist group is fraught with ambiguities.
Christians also enjoy a certain degree of religious freedom in Iran. The same cannot be said for Saudi Arabia. In the latter, churches are banned, so are religious symbols, religious icons and meeting for religious purposes in private homes.
In Iran, Churches cannot freely engage in missionary activities, but at least they can exist. Christian places of worship, gatherings, and prayers are allowed. Christians can live in safety.
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01/05/2021 08:00
