An olive branch in the new diplomacy between Washington and Tehran

The United States has acknowledged having received a document signed by Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, addressed to the State Department, in which he expresses Tehran’s willingness to immediately begin a series of meetings to initiate a direct dialogue between the two countries together. with Iran’s will that this happens once the billions of dollars held in various international banks are released and the current US sanctions are lifted.

According to a publication last Tuesday, the official Iranian news agency confirmed the diplomatic document sent and indicated that Tehran agrees to immediately cancel any action that contradicts the nuclear agreement signed in 2015 by former President Obama and which was left behind. Void by his successor, Donald Trump, in 2018.

Part of the letter recently sent by Zarif was posted by the minister himself on his Twitter account some time ago when he said: “It’s simple, when the sanctions are lifted, we will immediately cancel all active measures, ”Zarif published. on his Twitter account in mid-February, the same idea is echoed in the letter sent this week to Washington by the Iranian foreign minister.

Sources close to the Biden administration confirmed to Reuters that the president was considering concrete and direct steps to advance the dialogue, reduce existing tensions and resolve a more complex crisis in terms of his administration’s legacy, given that the Iran’s nuclear program has a direct impact on Washington. partners in the region.

Before the news, the United Nations Security Council could also extend “a diplomatic olive branch” by unzipping restrictive measures which weigh today on Iranian diplomats accredited to the New York headquarters of the UN for their diplomatic movements and activities.

EIn the halls of the United Nations this week, it emerged that the Biden administration reported that a series of – unofficial – approaches and dialogues had started from Iranian officials and were moving as Tehran considers Washington’s offer to speak directly about reactivating the deal within the next 30 days.

Iranian Foreign Ministry officials say there is consensus within the regime, but the condition of discussing a mechanism to synchronize the return to the 2015 accord must go through the previous steps leading to the lifting of restrictions. . These reconciliations and a series of movements that have taken place since the inauguration of President Joe Biden show a change of tone concerning relations between Washington and Tehran.

Many European diplomats note that there is a change in the course of relations and an American effort to remedy the actions of the previous administration which took an extremely hard line with Iran when President Trump accused the regime of foment and finance extremist violence in the Middle. In the East and trying to develop nuclear weapons, the accusations that Tehran has consistently denied. However, in May 2018, Trump abandoned the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and imposed a new set of sanctions much tougher than those in effect at the time. In turn, Iran began to violate the terms of the agreement.

President Biden has expressed his willingness to reconnect with Tehran, although he insisted that the terms of the original deal must be rendered before discussing the possibility of easing sanctions.

The State Department responded to Minister Zarif by saying it would accept an invitation from the European Union (EU) to attend a meeting that also includes the signatories to the 2015 accord. Washington did not have a meeting. meetings of this nature since Trump’s withdrawal. agreement. Either way, a formal invitation has yet to be issued, but it should happen shortly due to the conversations currently taking place between diplomats from the United States, Britain, France and Germany.

However, the US mission to the UN said the US was relaxing restrictions imposed by the Trump administration on the movement of Iranian diplomats within the United Nations. In this regard, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov issued a statement to the Moscow press saying it was a very good move on Washington’s part not to call for more international sanctions against Iran, although there is still a lot of work to be done to regain full compliance with the agreement revising certain modifications that the Biden administration intends to there. Restoring the JCPOA regime is what is important, Peskov said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action as the deal with Iran is officially known. “The fact that the restrictions imposed by Trump in 2019 when he banned Iranian diplomats from entering certain offices at the UN headquarters in New York have been lifted is a breakthrough,” said the spokesperson for the United Nations. Kremlin.

For its part, the State Department indicated that Iranian diplomats are still subject to restrictions for countries with poor relations with the United States as well as representatives of North Korea, and that they need to an authorization to travel or mobilize beyond a radius of between 30 and 40 kilometers from the United Nations headquarters.

In the same line of flanking moves to soften US positions, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that the administration is working hard to defuse these types of administrative restrictions and prepare for a confidence scenario that gives rise to a bilateral rapprochement aimed at resolving the controversy in a complete and positive manner for all the countries involved in the region. “The pieces are being arranged and now they’re positioning themselves as we think they should be,” Bliken told The New York Times.

“The de-escalation and turmoil of the nuclear deal that positively focuses on Washington and Tehran should be attractive enough to US Gulf partners. Falling oil revenues mean that these countries will soon have to make difficult decisions between investing in economic reforms or waging wars with neighboring countries. In the face of these potential conflicts and state control of local economies, attracting significant foreign investment to the region will be nothing more than a fantasy if we do not reach a good deal, hence the urgent need for a rapid and complete solution, ”said the Secretary. Blinken

One of the relevant factors in overcoming the crisis is for the United States to know that it must resolve this issue and also seek another additional benefit that is part of its interest in decompressing the tensions between the Gulf and Iran so that the interests of their Gulf partners are protected from organizations that disseminate Wahhabi Islam in the region. This Wahhabism has developed an ultra-conservative doctrine which provides the basis for the extremist ideology which has fueled for years the dispute between the Gulf countries and Iran, confronting its Shiite revolutionary counterpart since the advent of the Iranian Islamic revolution. in the late 1970s and early 1970s. 1980s.

Faced with Biden’s movements, some Arab analysts from Sunni countries who support the state Gulf officials argue that if their administration goes beyond the concessions to reach a deal with the Khomeinists, the Gulf leaders will leave the United States and there is no indication that they will not choose to partner with China or China. Russia if they both leave Iran. . This idea and its argument not only lack support, but are false, simply because the world is no longer living in the days of the Cold War, Russia has little to offer in the region and as global demand for oil continues. to decline, Moscow will inevitably do so. to compete with the Gulf countries only for their regional geostrategic interests, not for anything else. At the same time, China will continue to seek economic opportunities in the region and beyond, as it does, but will not be willing to play a military security role in the near future. Therefore, neither Moscow nor the Chinese Navy will come to the aid of an attacked Gulf country.

In the current scenario, the nuclear controversy will be resolved directly by the parties involved or it will not. Any future agreement should be accompanied by European countries and will be followed closely by Israel for the sake of its own national security.

The ongoing negotiations seem to be returning to the diplomatic track focused on a new modality of direct dialogue from which a positive outcome can emerge that brings stability and security to the region, and it would be very good if that were the case. However, if that doesn’t happen, there will be no stability or security, and it will all be left in dialogues that will be nothing more than the empty exteriorization of a handful of supposed good intentions.

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