Posts Tagged ‘Iran’

|Guest Column| No Surprises at Iranian Nuclear Talks

Posted: June 28, 2012 in Guest Opinions, Iranian Nuclear Issue, Israel, Middle East
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By Uri Marantz

The latest round of nuclear talks between Iran and the West has once again failed to deliver concrete results, resolutions (of even the most minimally binding nature) or serious agreement of any kind; besides of course, agreeing to reschedule previously scheduled meetings for a future-but-as-of-yet-undefined date in time.  The West in this case refers to the P5+1, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) plus Germany (or the EU3+3, named after another Iranian negotiating bloc in the mid-2000s).

This patently predictable turn of events, this lack of progress on a potentially globally destabilizing hot-button political issue, has not surprised a single analyst or political expert on Iranian nuclear affairs.  Western-Iranian nuclear negotiations have become almost as endlessly protracted and hopelessly intractable as Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations; to paraphrase the Prussian military strategist Carl von Clausewitz, these nuclear negotiations have become the only continuation of politics by other means.

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A General’s Admission: The Israeli Debate on Iran

Posted: April 26, 2012 in Iranian Nuclear Issue, Israel, Middle East
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A couple of days ago, the Israeli daily Haaretz ran an interview with Israel’s Chief of Staff Lt. General Benny Gantz that caused a stir amongst political analysts. Contrary to the vision of impending doom frequently painted by Israel’s Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu, Gantz stated that he does not believe Iran will decide to develop nuclear weapons.

While the statements appeared surprising to most, it was not only for the most obvious reasons. The “Israeli perspective” or the “Israeli red line,” has often been used by those who want to exert immense pressure Iran and possibly cease all forms of its nuclear enrichment. The argument goes onto state that while the Americans and Europeans could exist with a nuclear Iran, Israel has no such option. However, General Gantz has painted Iran as a state led by rational leaders, who have yet to make a decision on nuclear weaponization. Gantz goes further by predicting that Tehran will defer such an option. While there are quarters that seek to stretch the facts to fit their political objectives, one can not deny that the Iranian nuclear program is a rational and very real concern for the state of Israel. However, this concern or threat is not a monolith, it is a debate.

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Video: Containment: Containment: A Viable Strategy for Iran? (MEI)

Posted: April 19, 2012 in Iranian Nuclear Issue, Israel, Middle East, North America, United States of America
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The Middle East Institute hosts Georgetown University professor Paul Pillar and Atlantic Council fellow Barbara Slavin on American options for dealing with Iran. Pillar expels doomsday theories of Iran being a suicidal Islamic Regime that would use nuclear weapons against Israel or any other state. He also argues that containment is preferable to war, one that could be worse than the conjectured consequences of an Iranian bomb. Both Pillar and Slavin state that the United States will be able to successfully contain a nuclear Iran as it has for the last three decades. Through patience and reassurances to its allies in the Middle East (Israel and the Gulf in particular), the United States could dissuade Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon.

|Guest Column| What Next for Iran?

Posted: April 16, 2012 in Guest Opinions, Iranian Nuclear Issue, Israel, Middle East, Syrian Civil War
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By Uri Marantz

Iran.  The country is without a doubt one of the most geopolitically sensitive states in the international system.  It is also one of the most challenging and chimerical countries for its immediate neighbours, the region’s rising powers, the world’s great powers and the international community as a whole to fathom.  Just this past weekend (April 14, 2012), the first nuclear talks between the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council – China, France, Russia, the U.K., the U.S. – and Germany) and Iran in 15 months took place. During the past decade, subsequent rounds of these talks have led to little or no progress.  The most recent talks in Istanbul have been hailed by the Americans, Europeans and Iranians as ‘constructive and useful’, although nothing of substance was actually achieved at these negotiations.  If the universally positive atmosphere emanating from Istanbul lasts for another month, the real negotiations on Iranian uranium enrichment and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections will begin in earnest on May 23 in Baghdad.

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Video: Interview with Dan Meridor (AJE)

Posted: April 14, 2012 in Iranian Nuclear Issue, Israel, Middle East
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Al Jazeera English interviews Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy Dan Meridor on the state of Israel’s view on the Iranian threat. The interview covers the importance of Iranian rhetoric, the intentions of Iran’s nuclear program, the global intelligence debate and the consequences of a possible Iranian nuclear weapons program.

Israel’s Periphery: Relic of the Past or an evolved Foreign Policy?

Posted: April 12, 2012 in Egypt, India, Iranian Nuclear Issue, Israel, Middle East, Turkey
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Most observers have stressed on Israel’s Western support, particularly the United States, as an integral part to its survival in the region. Since its inception in 1948, Israel has had to come to terms with the hostilities of its Arab neighbours, many of whom were against the establishment of the Jewish state on the former British mandate of Palestine and took part in an effort to undo its creation. However, Israeli leaders like David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister, saw that it a necessity to establish ties with other regional, non-Arab states like Iran, Turkey and Ethiopia, through a policy often referred to as the Periphery Doctrine. With the Islamic Revolution of 1979, this secret and unofficial alliance was called into question; many refer to it as an antique of Israeli foreign policy. As relations with Turkey have soured in the past few years, can we relegate Israel’s Periphery Doctrine to the history books? Or has it simply evolved into something else?

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Video: Trita Parsi – Iran, Israel and the United States (UCBerkeley)

Posted: April 3, 2012 in Iranian Nuclear Issue, Israel, Middle East
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Harry Kreisler hosts Trita Parsi, President of the National Iranian American Council, for a discussion on the struggle for
power in the Middle East. Drawing on the perspective of the Realist School of International Relations Theory, he focuses on the region’s dominant powers – Israel and Iran – and examines the evolution of their relations with each other and with the United States, the world’s only superpower.

Much of this content and the interesting history behind the relationship between Israel, Iran and United States can be found in Parsi’s 2007 book, The Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States.

Video: Iran and the West at a Crossroad (MEI)

Posted: March 26, 2012 in Iranian Nuclear Issue, Middle East
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American Journalist Geneive Abdo and former Iranian member of parliament Syed Aliakbar Mousavi discuss the impact of the recent elections on the future of Iran’s nuclear program. They also examine the outlook for the forthcoming negotiations aimed at de-escalating U.S.-Iranian tensions.

Video: Hans Blix: The Iranian Threat (Al Jazeera English)

Posted: March 24, 2012 in Iranian Nuclear Issue, Middle East
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Former UN Weapons Inspector talks to Al Jazeera English on the Iranian threat and cautions the International community of “another Iraq.” He states that war is not inevitable and offers some suggestions to help solve the matter.

Iranian Nuclear Issue: Risk or Reward?

Posted: March 21, 2012 in Iranian Nuclear Issue, Middle East
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Throughout the past decade, we’ve seen consistent spikes in the news coverage over Iran’s nuclear program. Yes, it has been a decade since the “full extent” of Iran’s nuclear program was disclosed to the world by an exiled opposition group known as National Council of Resistance of Iran. Tens years later, the truth about Iran’s nuclear program still remains opinionated. Currently, there’s a suggestion that neoconservatives and their media machine are pushing U.S. President Barak Obama’s administration to act against Iran before it’s too late. On the other hand, Obama seems determined to stay put and ensure Israel is restrained from launching a pre-emptive attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. What is less discussed are the political risks Iran and Israel face in pursuing what many see as their national interests. In other words, would a nuclear weapon really be beneficial for the Islamic Republic? Would the consequences of an Israeli strike improve its security and safeguard its future?

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