Iran and 5+1 could reach agreement

By Vestnik Kavkaza

The next round of the talks between Iran and 5+1 international mediators (the UK, Germany, China, Russia, the USA, France) is over. The sides discussed prospects for an overall agreement on the Iranian nuclear program. The sides will begin developing the document in Vienna on May 13-16th.

The deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergei Ryabkov, says that it is real to reach an agreement before July 20th, but many experts point out possible contradictions inside 5+1 over the crisis in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Rajab Safarov, the head of the Center for Modern Iran Studies, thinks that “in the context of the crisis in Ukraine a strict geopolitical conflict between the USA, the Western countries and Russia appeared. The West is mobilizing its resources chaotically and gathering all possible countries, its allies, but Russia is trying to resist the pressure.”

According to Safarov, the West and Russia will compete for Iran. “Iran faces a dilemma – to make a breakthrough decision at the expense of relations with Russia or to leave it alone and hope that the international society will sooner or later understand that Iran has no program which could cause concerns. However, July 20th is coming and the sides have to achieve a result. If a final agreement is not signed, it will mean efforts of the international society were in vain. There will be no such a format for talks as 5+1 and Iran. It will mean the international society is not interested in settlement of the Iranian nuclear problem,” Safarov thinks.

According to Igor Korotchanko, the editor-in-chief of National Defense Magazine, “we are in the situation of a return to the Cold war between Russia and the West. It was initiated by the USA and their NATO partners. Such an approach makes Russia search for new opportunities for supporting global stability in building mutually beneficial trade, economic, political relations with other world centers of force, the states which have significant weigh at the international arena. Along with such major actors as India, China, Brazil, Asia-Pacific countries, Iran should be a predictable and reliable partner of Russia.”

Korotchenko thinks that “demonization of Iran which is being carried out by the West is aimed at political diplomatic justification of military construction programs of the USA and NATO, which threaten us. Launching the European missile defense system is based on an American desire to devaluate Russian strategic nuclear potential. There are no real missile threats for Europe from Iran. The role of Iran in regional security is very important for Russia. For years of the struggle against the separatist movement in the North Caucasus Iran has provided strict logic policy of resistance to any forms of the separatist activity, of prevention of any support from Iran to the terrorist groups in the North Caucasus. And from this point of view, Iran is a reliable back area for Russia.”

That’s why Korotchenko thinks that elimination of sanctions against Iran will enable Tehran to actively influence security processes, the struggle against international terrorism, illegal proliferation of weapons, including mass destruction weapons, in the region and influence a positive settlement of the situation in Syria. The expert hopes that a pragmatic reasonable approach will win in the West to get rid of a bogey of the Iranian missile nuclear threat for the world and Europe.