Pak Sahafat – Despite the clichéd and repetitive remarks of extremist US senators at the Iran-centric Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting, it was acknowledged that the Trump administration’s policy of maximum pressure has failed, and that diplomacy and consensus are the best way to go.
Capitol Hill on Wednesday hosted a hearing by US senators on Iran and US policy on the future of the Vienna talks. During the two-hour meeting, US Special Representative for Iran Robert Mali presented the latest status of the talks and answered questions from delegates. At the heart of his remarks was an emphasis on the Biden administration’s willingness to return to the agreement as long as the interests of non-proliferation are not compromised. Mali said that the nuclear deal still has this advantage and that the United States is continuing negotiations.
The US special envoy is actually nailing one to the other in order to escape the predicament of the opposition and those who agree with Iran. Therefore, it may be possible to give him the professional privilege that during the two-hour meeting, he tried to choose the words in such a way that neither the extremist senators nor the supporters of the agreement with Iran can hope.
However, the senators made some noteworthy points in this meeting, which, apart from the high-profile financial responses, its design shows the importance of the issue in the field of American foreign policy. The most important issue was the continuation of Iranian oil sales, despite US sanctions, which were repeatedly raised by participants.
Sen. Jim Risch, who opposes the Iran nuclear deal and calls for a halt to the Vienna talks, questioned why sanctions have failed to prevent the sale of Iranian oil. “Iranians are ‘smiling and selling their oil,'” he said, adding that “sanctions are ineffective.”
In a similar vein, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez said in a similar statement that Iran is backed by China, which exported 650,000 barrels of oil to China last April alone. Oil, which he said “should be the target of US sanctions, has caused tens of billions of dollars in cash to flow into Iran every day.”
But the important point that the US senator unwittingly made in protesting the Biden administration’s policies toward Iran was the absurdity of the tactics of setting deadlines and threatening Iran’s nuclear program in the Vienna talks.
The United States and European parties insisted during the Vienna talks that Iran’s nuclear progress would reduce the country’s distance from acquiring a nuclear weapon and pose a threat to the negotiation process.
“The government has said that if no agreement is reached in Vienna by the end of February, the benefits of non-proliferation will be lost,” Menendez said. Anthony Blinken said four months ago that negotiations with Iran for a reciprocal return to the IAEA had reached a critical stage and that if no agreement was reached in the next few weeks, Iran’s nuclear progress would make it impossible to return to that agreement.
He noted that three months had passed since that deadline and that the government was still seeking a diplomatic path and a return to an agreement with Iran. The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stating that expectation and hope is the only way forward for the government, implicitly acknowledged that the situation has reached a deadlock that is not in the best interests of the country.
During the meeting, the senators asked various questions, seeking a tool that would go beyond sanctions and change the behavior of Iran to the liking of the United States. Their questions to the US Special Representative were to acknowledge the fact that Iran, despite its policy of maximum pressure and a long list of sanctions, has continued on its path to nuclear progress and regional influence.
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Speaking about the benefits of a deal with Iran, Senator Edward Markey asked Mali questions to conclude that Iran’s nuclear activities had continued despite Trump’s sabotage and military threats, and actions such as the assassination of the late commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps not only did not limit Iran’s military capability, but also led to tensions in the region.
Senator Tim Kane also addressed the government’s special envoy for Iran, advising him to continue negotiations to return the United States to the UN Security Council. He said: I urge you to continue the negotiations until you reach the best agreement you can. The committee may ask you to stop the negotiations, but you will not accept this recommendation. Try yourself; If you reach an agreement that is better than the current situation, bring it to Congress and let Congress own it (approve). Let Congress decide whether we are a pro-diplomacy country or reject it. You do your duty and let us own the deal.
He also pointed to the root of the differences between Iran and the United States, saying that Iran is a threat to the United States and that all the issues raised about Iran’s dangerous activities are real, but that the United States is also dangerous and unreliable.
From the August 19 coup, the support of the Pahlavi regime and then Iraq in the war with Iran, the downing of a passenger plane to the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the UN Security Council, developments that he says have caused Iran to distrust the United States.
Tim Kane acknowledged; When the International Atomic Energy Agency announced that Iran was living up to its commitments; it was we who pulled out of the deal and missed the opportunity to build trust.
He asked: Now that the United States has left Borjam, what is the reason for the Iranians to want to agree with us? The US senator stated that if Iran is to acquire a nuclear weapon, let Israel be worried.
Kane’s team urged Mali not to miss this opportunity if an agreement could be reached with Iran.
It was on this basis that Senator Rand Powell concluded that the United States could not expect a change in behavior by imposing sanctions and barring the sale of Iranian oil. Acknowledging that Trump’s policy of maximum pressure has not been effective, he said lifting sanctions could have a greater impact on the success of negotiations and policy with Iran.
The meeting took place at a time when diplomatic moves related to Borjam appear to have intensified following the visit of Enrique Mora, the coordinator of the Vienna talks, to Tehran. In recent days, the chief British negotiator has met with representatives of the Zionist regime who played an active role in disrupting the Vienna talks. He also met with his French counterpart on Wednesday and stressed the need for a faster conclusion to the Vienna talks.
Most of the countries participating in the talks want the talks to conclude faster, but reaching a final agreement awaits US political decisions on a few remaining key issues.
From the point of view of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the negotiations have reached a stage, the knot of which can only be untied by the adherence of the wrong side to Iran’s logical and principled solutions. Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the National Security Council, stated in a tweet: The United States, through negligence, and Europe, through inaction, destroyed the opportunity to benefit from Iran’s proven goodness. If they have the will to return, we are ready and an agreement is available.