Iran’s new President Massoud Pezeshkian traveled to the United States last week to present a moderate, rational face of governance to the world.
He claimed in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) he iran He did not want to be a source of instability in the Middle East and only wanted peace. The President spoke of a “new era of cooperation” with the West and proposed engaging in nuclear talks.
He held a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the UNGA.
His new government seems eager to improve its relations with European countries. UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said after meeting Iran’s foreign minister that he saw openness in Iran for meaningful discussions on its nuclear program.
But is it all for show, or is Pezeshkian leading Iran on the path to peace?
Experts say Iran is sending out Pezeshkian to present a moderate front on the global stage – but he has little power behind the scenes. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei takes all kinds of steps.
Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian traveled to the United States to present a moderate, rational face of governance to the world. (Reuters/Caitlin Ochs)
“(Pezeshkian) is a moderate by Iranian standards… and the fact that the supreme leader let him run and win signals that he wants a different relationship with the West,” Ambassador James Jeffrey, who led the world Led US diplomacy in countries across the Middle East in the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations, told Fox News Digital.
The last president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, a member of the conservative Popular Front party, Died in a helicopter crash On 19 May. An independent Pezheshkian was elected in July.
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“Economically, they are in serious trouble, despite the fact that we are not enforcing our sanctions on exporting several million barrels of oil per day. They are tasked with fixing this by calming things down with Western states The problem is that he is not the real leader of Iran.”
Pezeshkian’s visit to America took place as former president trump He revealed that he had been tipped off about Iranian plots to assassinate him when Iran tried to hack information on his campaign and give it to Democrats and the media.
Earlier in the month it was confirmed that Iran had sent ballistic missiles to Russia for use in the war against Ukraine.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Iranian Leader Press Office/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
While Iran has long been looking to rejoin the nuclear deal after Trump pulled out of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), it is now closer than ever to a nuclear weapon. The nation is enriching uranium to 60% – close to the 90% limit needed for a weapon – and reports suggest renewed activity at two nuclear weapons testing sites – Sanjarian and Golab Dareh.
Nicole Grajewski, an Iran nuclear expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said, “Iran can’t really reverse some of the knowledge it has acquired by working with advanced centrifuges and high levels of enrichment.”
Nevertheless, Iran will certainly try to woo the US to lift sanctions and engage in diplomatic talks.
“We ran into this argument hook, line and sinker…in the Obama, and to some extent, in the Trump administration, until (Secretary of State Mike) Pompeo took office in mid-2018. areas – in Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq and Syria.”
Jeffrey, who is now chairman of the Middle East program, said, “A new president in Harris or Trump will be tempted to try to make a deal with the Iranians, because no one wants them to get nuclear weapons, and no one wants war. I don’t want to go.” At the Wilson Center.
Iranians elected Pezheshkian, an independent, as president in July. (Majid Asgharipour/West Asia via news agency Reuters)
“Pezeshkian might be able to proceed in the same manner as the 2015 offer and put a smiling face on the Iranian offer, but it would be one-sided.”
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Vice President Kamala Harris had sharply criticized Trump for pulling out of the Iran deal in 2018. President Biden campaigned on returning to the agreement, but failed to do so while in office.
It is unclear how actively Trump will pursue a deal with Tehran. Just a day apart, Trump said he would threaten to “blow up” Iran and be ready to negotiate on a nuclear deal.
“As you know, there have been two assassination attempts on my life that we know of, and they may or may not have involved Iran – but possibly involved,” Trump said at a campaign event in North Carolina on Wednesday. It is possible.”
He said, “If I were president, I would inform the threatening country, in this case Iran, that if you did anything to harm this person, we would blow up your largest cities and the country ”
But while talking to reporters on Thursday new york cityHe said talks were necessary because of the threat of a nuclear Iran.
When the former president was asked whether he would make a deal with Iran, he said, “Sure, I would.” “We have to make a compromise, because the consequences are impossible. We have to make a compromise.”
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“Trump certainly scares the Iranians more, because he is unpredictable, but I think the way Trump can be predicted is that he will not miss the opportunity to negotiate a deal. Which he likes to do. It’s kind of how he brands himself,” said Jonathan Ruhe, director of foreign policy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA).
“That’s what always happens – we come in and say, ‘You know, Iran, this time you better negotiate in good faith. That’s what we really want.’ And then Iran escalates the negotiations, continues to expand its nuclear program and basically buys time to get closer to the bomb.”
