Interview with ILNA News Agency, September 27, 2024 -
The interview was in Persian and the translation below was done by Ai.
Sasan Karimi, a lecturer at the University of Tehran and an analyst of international affairs, said in evaluating the president's trip to New York and his speech at the UN General Assembly: "It was a comprehensive speech and explained the country's official positions to both the political and media elites and to some extent to others. One main axis was the issue of Israel and its various attacks on Gaza and Lebanon and assassinations, and on issues related to Ukraine, nuclear weapons, sanctions, etc., we heard open-minded and forward-looking positions.
In evaluating Pezdekian's proposals for peace, security, and dialogue to end the wars, especially in Ukraine and Palestine, he said: "The position of the Islamic Republic of Iran has always been to support them on the issue of Palestine, and in addition, if a ceasefire occurs, it will not have any practical opposition. Of course, I think this is not close, but Mr. Pezdekian emphasized this position in detail. Most of the work will be to neutralize Israel and Netanyahu’s determination to further secure Iran and even impose a kind of all-out war in which Iran will be the opponent of the entire West and they will support Israel. This message clearly indicated Iran’s awareness of this scenario, if there are fair ears in Europe and North America to listen.
In response to the question of how the doctors spoke about the commitment of the West to the JCPOA obligations, how do you interpret this message and whether the West and the US will step to the negotiating table, Karimi said: “In any case, Iran’s position on the JCPOA and the US return to the JCPOA has not changed, but perhaps we are witnessing more dynamism in the determination that is considered the basis for the start of some kind of substantive and result-oriented negotiations. We also heard this in the positions of Mr. Araqchi and Mr. Zarif. Iran is ready for negotiations and for all parties to return to the JCPOA obligations.”
In response to the question of what he predicts will be the impact of the president's speech, this international affairs analyst said: "I think the world has received Iran's message to reform foreign relations, considering Mr. Pezshekian's team and the text of his speech. Now, how to manage the issues of Russia and Ukraine, Gaza, and the US elections, as the three main issues of the international environment, will come down to the president, the foreign ministry, and the government. The reality is that the government's diplomatic power is very impressive, and at least five very prominent diplomats were with the president in the team present in New York. Therefore, planning and implementing negotiations and managing the scene in the coming months is possible; but it requires internal consensus and real and practical support from all institutions and movements. With the destruction that we witnessed during the Rouhani administration and are seeing recently, the work of foreign policy becomes very difficult. Just as we did not witness any public or opposing stance from those opposed to his movement during the administration of Mr. Raisi, today the government is right to expect a full-fledged defense or at least no destruction.
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