Posts tagged : "Iran’s nuclear program"

Kourosh Ziabari - Iran Review: The self-imposed November 24 deadline for the conclusion of negotiations over Iran's nuclear program is approaching, and the Iranian nation, as well as thousands of enthusiastic people across the world, are waiting to see if more than one decade of strife and conflict over Tehran's nuclear activities will finally come to an end or not. President Hassan Rouhani's administration has shown its strong willingness and firmness to resolve the nuclear controversy through diplomatic channels and peacefully. Since he came to power in June 2013 presidential elections, Iran and the group of P5+1 (five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) held several round of intensive talks the lengthiest...

Fair Observer - Kourosh Ziabari: The Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák was the 13th European foreign minister to visit Iran since the moderate cleric Hassan Rouhani became President of Iran in June 2013. Lajčák came to Iran less than a week after the Danish Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard concluded his trip to the country, and took part in an exclusive interview with Fair Observer. Aside from his role as the foreign minister, Miroslav Lajčák is also serving as the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovakia in the cabinet of Robert Fico. Lajčák is a veteran diplomat who has held several high-ranking political offices prior to beginning his tenure as the Slovak Foreign Minister in April 2012. From 1994 to...

Kourosh Ziabari - Iran Review: The Danish Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard is just departing from Iran. He was the 13th European foreign minister to visit Iran following the election of Hassan Rouhani as the President of Iran in June last year. The rate of diplomatic exchanges between Iran and Europe has increased dramatically, and the continent that was literally detached from Iran for around one decade is once again seeking ways for reengagement with one of the world's most important emerging powers and energy hubs. An Iran policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations explains to Iran Review her viewpoints about the rapprochement between Iran and the European Union and the leading role the powerful 28-member bloc of...

Kourosh Ziabari - Iran Review: Although Iran and the group of six world powers (Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States) that have been working for several years to find a solution to the controversy over Iran's nuclear program failed to meet the self-imposed July 20 deadline for reaching a comprehensive agreement after concluding an interim accord on November 23, 2013, the fact that the time limit for the negotiations have been extended for another 4 months leaves room for great optimism and hope that the decade-long dispute can finally be settled, though with difficulty and intricacy. A former NATO official and high-ranking U.S. Navy officer believes that the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1...

Kourosh Ziabari - Tehran Times: As Iran and the group of six world powers are engaged in a marathon of intensive and breathtaking negotiations in the Austrian capital Vienna to find a solution for ending the decade-old controversy over Tehran's nuclear program, it becomes more important to ask the experts and scholars how a comprehensive agreement between Iran and the P5+1 (Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States) looks like and how the two sides of the dispute should approach the talks to obtain significant and substantive results. A prominent American nuclear expert believes that the coming to power of the moderate politician Hassan Rouhani as the President of Iran and the subsequent recommencement of nuclear...

Kourosh Ziabari - Tehran Times: The new opportunities created by the coming to power of a new government in Tehran has instigated the European Union officials to think of ways for solving the nuclear controversy with Iran once for all, reconstructing the damaged bilateral and multilateral relations with the oil-rich country and returning to its lucrative market as permitted by the step-by-step removal of the economic sanctions. The Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn was the 9th EU foreign minister who traveled to Iran following the election of Hassan Rouhani as the President of Iran in June 2013 elections. Jean Asselborn's trip to Iran earlier in June was the first trip by a high-ranking Luxembourg official to the country in...

Kourosh Ziabari - Iran Review: Jack Straw is not an unknown or unfamiliar politician to the Iranians. When the current President of Iran Hassan Rouhani was the country’s lead nuclear negotiator with the EU3 (Britain, France and Germany) under President Mohammad Khatami, Jack Straw traveled to Iran several times as the British Foreign Secretary and conferred with him on a number of occasions. Straw is a veteran politician who has experienced working at the different administrative and law-making levels in the British politics. From 1987 to 1992, he was the Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Science and for the next two years, he served as the Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment. From May 1997 until June 2001, he...

  Kourosh Ziabari - Tehran Times: Janko Veber, the president of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, visited Iran in early May 2014, in the first trip by a European parliament speaker to Iran in more than a decade. Veber had travelled to Iran at the invitation of his Iranian counterpart Ali Larijani and was one of many high-ranking EU officials who came to Iran following the election of Hassan Rouhani as the President of Iran in June 2013. Like the majority of the EU officials who travelled to Iran recently, including 9 foreign ministers of the 28-member bloc, Mr. Veber voiced his optimism about the further expansion of ties between Iran and the international community and the diplomatic settlement of...

  Kourosh Ziabari - Iran Review: Although Iran and the United States have not had close diplomatic relations for more than three decades, and despite the fact that the two countries have been at loggerheads over many grievances, academic and cultural exchanges have usually brought the two nations closer together and created opportunities for increased mutual understanding between the two peoples that in spite of their greatness and magnificence, have usually failed to take note of each other’s concerns and sensitivities. It’s possible to remove the acrimonies of the past in the Iran-U.S. relations through constructive and meaningful dialog and negotiations. Academicians, scholars, intellectuals and media people can play...

Kourosh Ziabari - Iran Review: When Emma Bonino visited Iran in December 2013, she was the first European Union foreign minister who would travel to Iran in nearly one decade. Her trip was applauded by those who favored a peaceful settlement of the disputes between Iran and the West over Tehran’s nuclear program, and irked those, including the Israeli regime, who find their interests in the continuation of the conflict and animosity between Iran, the United States and the European Union. Following the resignation of the Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, President Giorgio Napolitano named Matteo Renzi as the new Prime Minister in February 2014, and the cabinet was reshuffled. As a result, Emma Bonino is not the foreign minister...

  Kourosh Ziabari - Tehran Times: As Iran and the six world powers approach the sensitive phases of their negotiations for striking a final deal on Tehran’s nuclear program, political scientists and nuclear experts present new proposals on how a future comprehensive agreement between the Islamic Republic and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany may look like. There are different viewpoints regarding the possible solutions that can put an end to the decade-long conflict over Iran’s nuclear program. Solutions have been put forth which ensure that Iran will have the sufficient resources for developing a civilian, commercial nuclear program while demonstrating to the international community that...

  Kourosh Ziabari - Iran Review: As Iran and the group of six world powers convene in Vienna for a new round of talks over the Tehran’s nuclear program, it appears more important to study the different aspects of the decade-long controversy that has marred and tarnished Iran’s relations with the international community, especially the United States and the European Union. Signs are emerging that Iran’s blemished relations with the West are being reconstructed, especially after Iran signed a breakthrough deal with the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) on November 24, 2013 known as the Joint Plan of Action. Following the election of Hassan Rouhani as the President of Iran in...