Hope grows that Iran could pull back from nuclear standoff: LA Times

TEHRAN,June 18(MNA) – Iranian President-elect Hassan Rohani, who served for almost two years as the nation’s top nuclear negotiator, can use his credentials and the personal relationships to help resolve the decade-old row over the country’s nuclear program, according to an article published by the Los Angeles Times on Sunday. Following are excerpts of the article written by Patrick J. McDonnell and Ramin Mostaghim: The surprising election of Hassan Rohani, a moderate cleric, as Iran’s president has prompted a wave of speculation about a crucial question: Will Iran’s new leadership be more willing to compromise on its nuclear program? No one knows for sure, but some Iranians express hope that Rohani has both the credentials and the personal relationships necessary to make headway on the issue… “He is a moderate, he has promised to improve the economy, and he knows that one way to do that is to roll back the sanctions,” said Farshad Qorbanpour, a political analyst in Tehran, the Iranian capital. In the Iranian capital, Rohani supporters hoping for a paradigm shift in the perilous nuclear standoff — and a respite from the… international sanctions linked to the issue — note that [Ayatollah] Khamenei has long had a collegial relationship with Rohani, 64, who has been a stalwart of the Islamic Republic since its founding in 1979. … Rohani remains one of the supreme leader’s point men on a key national security panel, the Supreme National Security Council, which oversees the nuclear issue and other sensitive defense matters. The new president served for almost two years as the nation’s top nuclear negotiator, and later wrote a nearly 1,000-page memoir of his service… The current president, Ahmadinejad, has struck a consistently defiant tone about the nation’s nuclear program. His polemical style is in stark contrast to the low-key, diplomatic demeanor of Rohani, who is scheduled to assume office in August. During the presidential campaign, Rohani indicated clearly that he would work to ease U.S.-backed sanctions that have battered the nation’s economy, making it hard to export oil (Iran’s principal resource), and limiting access to the international banking system, among other restrictions. More than any other candidate, Rohani tied the nation’s economic doldrums to the sanctions regime, bringing to the forefront a linkage that was previously somewhat taboo. “Certain people in this country are proud of themselves for bringing sanctions on us and are proud of themselves for bringing poverty,” Rohani said in a telling comment last week at a boisterous rally in Tehran. For his part, Rohani can point to an almost two-year period during his stewardship of the nuclear dossier, from 2003 to 2005, when Iran did agree to suspend uranium enrichment, in large part to avoid economic and political sanctions or other punitive actions by the West. His supporters say the move points to his pragmatist approach to foreign policy and other matters. Still, Rohani has made it clear that he remains committed to Iran obtaining nuclear capability, albeit for what he calls peaceful means. “The United States and its allies should abandon their deception of manufacturing new enemies and portraying Iran and its exclusively peaceful nuclear program as a threat,” Rohani wrote in an email interview with Asharq al Awsat, a pan-Arab newspaper, a few days before the election. “Serious, balanced, and time-bound negotiations aimed at resolving clearly defined questions and concerns by both sides can play an effective role in resolving this artificially manufactured crisis.” U.S. officials suspect that Iran is clandestinely trying to reach the capacity to build an atomic weapon. The Obama administration says it has not ruled out any action, including a military attack, to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is exclusively for civilian uses such as energy generation and treatment of cancer. In the wake of Rohani’s election, a sense of urgency is evident in the discourse of many average Iranians about the need to revive an economy battered by galloping inflation, high unemployment, and a collapsing currency. There is a sense that drastic change is needed, especially to ease the situation for Iran’s many young, highly educated job seekers. “We need less sanctions and more jobs and more investment to create jobs — those are our priorities,” said Kamaran Saadat, 60, a civil engineer in the capital. “Forget about individual freedoms or social freedoms, we do not need that urgently. We need to avoid war or any confrontation with the United States or others.” The White House seems guarded about the possibility that Iran’s new president could bring progress to long-stalled nuclear talks. But U.S. officials say they are willing to listen. “If he [Rohani] lives up to his obligations under the UN Security Council resolution to come clean on this illicit nuclear program, he will find a partner in us,” White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “But to get to that point, we need him to live up to the obligations on the nuclear program.”