Posts tagged : "Iran’s nuclear program"

Kourosh Ziabari - Responsible Statecraft: For nearly two decades now, Iran’s nuclear program has represented a global concern debated in the media on a daily basis, and world leaders have made every effort to find a way out of this intractable dilemma. Iran insists on the peaceful nature of its nuclear program, remains adamant that it should be entitled to enrich uranium unrestrictedly, has consistently worked on the development of advanced centrifuges and heavy-water reactors, and at times has been accused of covering-up its past nuclear activities. Lamentably, the sizeable investment Iran has made on its nuclear mission has yielded little concrete outcomes its people can discern other than underpinning an international...

Asia Times - Kourosh Ziabari: Joe Biden’s election has revived certain hopes that the landmark Iran nuclear deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), may soon be restored and usher in a new era of stability to the region. Biden vowed on the campaign trail he would rejoin the JCPOA and enter broad negotiations with the Islamic Republic to address a wide array of sticking points that continue to blight bilateral relations. Iran, which resorted to so-called “remedial measures” after the Trump administration withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018, has since rolled back several of its commitments under the deal, including recommencing its sensitive uranium enrichment activities. At the same time,...

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: Nearly one week since the high-profile assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh on the outskirts of Tehran and the world is waiting to see how Iran’s rulers respond. While a dramatic retaliatory attack may not be imminent, newly tabled legislation promises to accelerate Iran’s nuclear program in defiance of the assassination’s apparent aim of curtailing its progress and perceived threat. Fakhrizadeh, a brigadier general with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a key figure in Iran’s nuclear program was ambushed and killed on November 27 in what many observers have described as an “extraterritorial targeted killing.” Iranian authorities have reflexively blamed...

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: The November 27 assassination of an elite Iranian nuclear scientist, almost unanimously blamed on Israel’s intelligence apparatus, has put the Middle East on high alert and raises the specter of a military confrontation that will scupper any chance of a fast thaw in Iran-US diplomacy when US President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was a brigadier general in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a lecturer in physics at Imam Hossein University and one of the most senior scientists in Iran’s multilayered, sophisticated nuclear enterprise. Some have referred to him as the Abdul Qadeer Khan of Iran, the “father” of Pakistan’s clandestine and ultimately...

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: With less than two weeks to the US presidential election, Iranians, like much of the world, are carefully watching the heated contest between the incumbent Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden, who has opened up significant leads in the pre-election polls and many observers say has the potential to make the Republican president a one-termer. Although foreign policy is not usually a determining factor in how the American people elect politicians, the outcome of the November 3 ballot will have reverberations beyond the US borders, and America’s friends and foes have already begun contemplating the contours of their future relations with the United States under the two possible scenarios:...

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: The 75th United Nations General Assembly that ran from September 22 to 29 was not impervious to the blight of the Covid-19 pandemic, and unlike in preceding years, New York City was not the rendezvous of top-tier leaders and high-profile delegations flocking to Manhattan to mark what has usually been a monumental diplomatic event and a magnet for the world media. The General Assembly this year was eviscerated of its traditional exuberance characterized by hotly anticipated or rare encounters between heads of state and government, impassioned speeches during the General Debate sessions, particularly those by the rulers of “rogue states” who are otherwise banished from international forums, and...

Kourosh Ziabari - ODVV: In July 2015, Iran and the major world powers came to a detailed and comprehensive agreement that put an end to years of controversy over Iran’s nuclear activities and was lauded as a landmark non-proliferation accord. The 159-page document came to be known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, stipulated certain restrictions on different aspects of Iran’s nuclear program and in return emancipated Iran from the shackles of international sanctions that had gripped its economy for decades. The normalization of Iran’s relations with the international community was one of the by-products of the JCPOA, and the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog confirmed in consecutive reports that Iran was holding to...

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif posted a video to Twitter earlier this month of an Iranian TV show, in which a despairing mother complains the US sanctions have made it impossible for her to find prosthetic legs for her small, paralyzed son. She addresses both Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and President Donald Trump, whom she believes are responsible for her predicament. While the US in recent days sanctioned Zarif – Iran’s top diplomat – it has insisted that sanctions are not targeting the Iranian people and their ability to purchase medicine. Credible accounts from regular Iranians encountering hardship – desperately searching for medicine in local markets and online – tell a very...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: Tensions between Tehran and Washington have been escalating for some time now. In the most recent episode, two commercial tankers were damaged by mysterious explosions in the Gulf of Oman on June 13, sparking a surge in oil prices and triggering speculations about the possible perpetrator. The US government was quick in pointing the finger of blame at Iran. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the blasts were caused by the Iranian military “based on intelligence, the weapons used the level of expertise needed to execute the operation.” Iran denies the allegations. After withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the United States imposed crushing...

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: People of Iran took to the streets earlier this month to participate in demonstrations marking Jerusalem Day. Falling on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, it is an occasion when Muslims are invited to show solidarity with the Palestinian people in their fight against Israeli occupation. Although the Iranian government invests heavily on propaganda for the annual occasion, and while the country’s state-run media give extensive coverage to rallies on this day, not all Iranians agree the issue of Palestine should be a priority for the Islamic Republic at a time their country is bearing the brunt of grueling economic sanctions by the United States. Masoumeh Sharifi, a 60-year-old mother of...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: For four decades, relations between Iran and the United States have been marked by misunderstandings, tensions and enmity. The two countries seem to find it impossible to settle their differences and engage with each other on a basis of mutual respect. Reckless decisions by the leaders of the two nations and fiery, hostile rhetoric from each side have added to the differences and widened the gap between Washington and Tehran. Perhaps the most promising development following the 1979 Islamic Revolution was the signing of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, technically known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was a solid, concrete resolution for one of the major sticking points in the...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: Four decades after Iran and the United States severed diplomatic relations, tensions are running higher than at any point in the 21st century. US President Donald Trump, who has constructed a foreign policy around his “America First” mantra, having abandoned multilateralism and making democracy and human rights a global priority, has been exerting an unprecedented amount of pressure on Iran since coming to power. Key people in formulating President Trump’s foreign policy, namely Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his national security adviser, John Bolton, have shown belligerence toward Iran previously by throwing weight behind the exiled Iranian group, Mujahedeen e-Khalq (MEK), championing regime...