Zohrehvand described the behavior of the Western parties in the negotiations as not based on logic and philosophy of dialogue and negotiation, and said; “Usually, they do nothing but putting pressure on Iran and ...
Radio Goftgoo's "Political Dialogue" program interviewed Dr. Abolfazl Zohrehvand, a former member of the nuclear negotiating team, on the subject of examining the Vienna talks and its prospects.
Abolfazl Zohrehvand considered negotiation to be the most important tool in diplomacy; “Negotiation is basically a matter of diplomacy, and we can’t see but two options before Iran’s nuclear issue; either we have to go through the path of negotiation and diplomacy or we have to choose the path of conflict and challenge. As a rule, no common sense moves towards conflict and challenge until it has gone through the negotiation process.
He stated that it is very important to negotiate within a specific framework, approach and team; “Negotiation is not essentially a goal by itself, but it’s rather a tool to achieve goals.”
The former member of our country’s nuclear negotiating team referred to the ongoing talks in Vienna between Iran and the West; “Six rounds of talks were held in Vienna, and Iran had prepared a draft for the negotiations, part of which was inspired by the JCPOA. As a rule, in the thirteenth government, the type of approach to national issues differs in many respects from the view of the twelfth government.”
He clarified that what has been done in the field of nuclear negotiations in the 11th and 12th administrations has been reviewed in the 13th administration; “The new negotiating team has entered the dialogue with a clear agenda. Of course, these talks did not exactly correspond to the six rounds of negotiations, nor did they ignore all of them.”
In this interview with Radio Goftogoo, Zohrehvand pointed to the presentation of two drafts by Iran in the seventh round of Vienna talks and stated; “In response to Iran’s drafts, the other parties said that they should go to their capitals and that this draft should then be re-examined by their experts. Iran has also prepared a third draft, since the Westerners have a habit of achieving their own desired results while giving no privileges to Iran.”
He considered the behavior of the West in the negotiations as not based on logic, and off philosophy of dialogue and negotiation; “If the negotiation is to reach a conclusion, we have to move between zero and one; that is, they spend to some extent and achieve their goals to some extent as well.”
The international affairs expert said about the European parties and their positions in the negotiations; “Usually they do nothing but cheating, deception and putting pressure on Iran, and basically they are not going to deal with Iran in a good manner. Unfortunately, it was the JCPOA which created these conditions, because it was unbalanced and prepared the other side with several benefits while not holding any significant privilege for Iran.”
**** Today, Iran Stands in a Superior Tactical Position in the Negotiations.
Hadi Servati referred to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) process and said; “The JCPOA consisted of several steps that eventually formed a package. In the first step, Iran took the lead in building trust and did a lot, and now the JCPOA can be considered a returned check in the hands of Iran that should be deposited.”
He continued; “In the final step, the Europeans were supposed to implement 11 clauses of the provisions and contents of the JCPOA in return for the obligations that Iran had fulfilled. Regarding the Nuclear Deal, unfortunately, only Iran fulfilled its obligations and the United States and Europe did not fulfill any of what they were committed to. The Westerners wanted to keep Iran in a certain position and to control and channelize the Islamic Republic of Iran in the nuclear process, which they succeeded.”
In this interview with Radio Goftogoo, the international affairs expert stated that the way the Twelfth Government used to negotiate indicated that we were standing inferior to the West; “Such an outlook made the previous government team passive, and they constantly waited for the West to decide. The text of the JCPOA was written by the Westerners and placed in front of Iran in a way that Mr. Zarif himself admits that he has not read some of its provisions.”
Servati stated that the United States and Europe have played with Iran during the years that the JCPOA has been in place; “Trump, at the same time, violated the agreement and unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal. It was a reckless act, and it made all Americans and Europeans admit that Trump's move was extremely reckless.”
“After Trump's walked out of the JCPOA, the western sides and the Iranian team proceeded in an ambiguous atmosphere. Trump thought that Iran would react more harshly when the United States withdrew of the deal, but the Islamic Republic of Iran was very smart,” he added.
The international affairs expert then mentioned that Iran had taken restrictive measures a year ago; “In this regard, the parliament passed a law to lift sanctions, obliging the government to perform 20% and then 60% uranium enrichment. Also, changing the generation of centrifuges is another measure that puts Iran in a superior tactical position today.”
By Zahra Judaki
