Psychological barriers to Iran nuclear deal should be removed: article

TEHRAN,Jan.28(MNA) – It is important that the psychological barriers to a deal between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program be removed although the nuclear dispute between the two is often portrayed as a disagreement over technical issues, according to Ray Takeyh, a senior fellow at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations. “As diplomacy once more reclaims its place in U.S.-Iran relations, a peculiar psychological barrier continues to bedevil prospects of a settlement,” Takeyh wrote in an article published on the website of the New York Times on January 25. “Although various grand bargains and proposals have been contemplated, the level of mistrust is simply too high to facilitate comprehensive settlements,” read part of the article entitled ‘A First Step With Iran’. “It is important to break the psychological barriers to deal-making,” he said. Takeyh wrote, “The great powers are busy imposing sanctions on Iran that they will amend only if Tehran dismantles key aspects of its nuclear program. In the meantime, Iran is hesitant to make concessions, aware that the expansion of its nuclear capability enhances its bargaining power. In the search of negotiating advantage, neither side is willing to part with what they consider to be their leverage. “The best means of breaking this vicious cycle is not to search for a grand deal, but a limited one that breaches the wall of mistrust… .” Elsewhere in the article Takeyh said, “The Iranian and American narratives do occasionally coincide on one issue: Iran’s production of 20 percent enriched uranium.” “An accord — however modest and tentative — may convince the Western powers that Iran can indeed be an arms-control interlocutor,” the article read. “A modest compromise may not fundamentally alter the technical complexion of Iran’s nuclear program, but it may change the political milieu that has thus far obstructed an accord. Only then can the great powers and Iran move toward a more fundamental resolution of their lingering dispute,” Takeyh wrote.