TEHRAN (Bazaar) –Nader Entessar, Professor Emeritus of Political Science from university of South Alabama says if the nuclear negotiations resume, they will be next month and after the November congressional elections in the United States.
“Although domestic and foreign policy developments are always interconnected, it appears that the Biden administration is trying to separate current nuclear negotiations with Tehran from other developments in Iran in order not to sabotage the future of the JCPOA-related talks,” Entessar told Bazaar.
Following is the full text of the Bazaar interview with Professor Entessar:
Q: Considering the protests in Iran and the positions of people like Robert Malley, some experts believe that America is trying to separate nuclear negotiations from other issues. What is your assessment?
A: Although domestic and foreign policy developments are always interconnected, it appears that the Biden administration is trying to separate current nuclear negotiations with Tehran from other developments in Iran in order not to sabotage the future of the JCPOA-related talks.
Q: The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency says that the dialogue with Iran on the issue of nuclear safeguards has resumed. To what extent is this issue influential in the process of Iran's nuclear negotiations?
A: This is one of the more important issues in the process of Iran's nuclear negotiations. The text of the JCPOA clearly highlights the removal of all IAEA concerns about the Safeguards Agreement with Iran. For better or worse, the future of the JCPOA and nuclear talks is predicated on the removal of all concerns and ambiguities.
Q: Iran has expressed readiness to resume negotiations. What is your assessment of this issue?
A: Neither Iran nor the Biden Administration wants to be the first party to unilaterally pull out of the Vienna rounds of negotiations. That is why each side continues to publicly repeat its readiness to resume negotiations after each pause in recent talks. But the problem that has stymied the revival of the JCPOA is that each side has varying and contrasting expectations about what a revived JCPOA should look like.
Q: Sputnik, which is a Russian media, recently quoted a Russian official and announced that the nuclear talks will resume next month. Do you think the negotiations will start on this date?
A: It appears that if the nuclear negotiations resume, they will be next month and after the November congressional elections in the United States.
Q: It seems that after the US congressional elections, it is the right time for the Biden administration to start nuclear negotiations with Iran. What is your assessment?
A: Although opposition to Iran has long been a bipartisan issue in U.S. Congress, the Biden administration may find its maneuverability enhanced if the Democrats do not lose control of Congress after the November mid-term elections. If the Republicans gain control of Congress, the Biden administration may, for all practical purposes, become a lame-duck government.
نظر شما