The international diplomatic, economic and intelligence conflict over Iran’s nuclear program has now been in full flow for over a decade. Few crises have lasted this long at such tempo. It has involved complex games of diplomatic poker, missed opportunities and overplayed hands. Proposals have come and gone involving careful balancing of red lines and attempts to find common interest.
Iran’s Nuclear Program
Geneva talks: a fresh opportunity for Iran & E3+3 (P5+1)
The latest installment of the negotiations between Iran and the E3+3 (P5+1: United States, United Kingdom, China, Russia, France, and Germany) will resume on Tuesday and Wednesday in Geneva. Negotiations with Iran on its nuclear program are now into their 10th year, and each year brings about more disappointment and more anxiety over concerns of nuclear proliferation.
The Iran-Russia Relationship & Reviving Nuclear Negotiations
Recent developments in the Middle East look to be further strengthening the relationship between Iran and Russia. The election of relative moderate, Hassan Rouhani, holds great promise for the future of the diplomatic approach to Iran’s nuclear programme that the Russians have invested a great deal in, and in which they have supported reduced sanctions.
Iran, the United States, Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, at the United Nations
World leaders will descend upon New York this week to meet, and deliver their annual remarks to the United Nations General Assembly. The Syrian crisis is sure to take up a fair amount of diplomatic attention at the podium and on the sidelines, but there will also be opportunities for nuclear diplomacy.
Time for Action in Iran
U.S. President Barack Obama pledged to change a great number of things in his first election campaign 2008, and among them was bringing peace to the Middle East. Long neglected during his first Presidential term, it seems that now, at last, Israeli-Palestinian relations may be rising to a higher level of political salience.
Iran’s presidential election: new possibilities for nuclear negotiations?
There is a certain fatalism surrounding Iran’s presidential election this Friday, June 14th, with many people having lost interest because of the limited field of candidates (eight) being allowed to stand. This is coupled with soaring unemployment and inflation in the Islamic Republic, caused by mismanagement and encroaching economic sanctions from the Western countries over its nuclear program. Many of the country’s young people, who constitute a very large proportion of the electorate, are disheartened by the diplomatic damage to Iran’s international reputation, and the economic hardship that is impacting on their everyday lives.
IAEA Board of Governors meeting and Iran
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors will meet this week, starting today in Vienna, and Iran’s nuclear program will be on the agenda. The May 22ndIAEA report concluded that little has changed since previous assessments of the nuclear program – with Iran continuing to enrich nuclear fuel and Tehran and the Agency at loggerheads over what is necessary to show that all of Iran’s nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes.
Iran earthquake: a catalyst for confidence building at Bushehr?
On April 16th, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit southeast Iran causing tremors that could be felt in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, and western Saudi Arabia. This is only a week after a worrying 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Kaki, a southern Iranian town located just 60 miles from Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power station.