Political scientist says temporary Iran-P5+1 deal could become permanent

By Saeed Isayev - Trend

Temporary Iran-P5+1 nuclear deal could become permanent, if both sides stick to their commitments and succeed in out-manoeuvring hard-line elements, political scientist, Iranian Heritage Foundation Visiting Fellow, Dr. Ghoncheh Tazmini told Trend.

Yet, Tazmini, who is also a member of Centre for Iranian Studies of London Middle East Institute, said that this part of a larger conceptual problem.

"The nuclear dossier is a legal, technical matter that has been used over the years as a political tool by Iran detractors," she said.

"The fact is that animosity toward Iran developed all the way back in 1979 when Iran became an Islamic Republic - a political and social construct that differs from prevailing western representations of modernity."

Iran and the P5+1 reached a nuclear agreement on Nov. 24. Iran has agreed to curb some of its nuclear activities for six months in return for sanctions relief. Both Iran and the P5+1 group have agreed to implement the agreement starting from Jan. 20.

Under the agreement, six major powers agreed to give Iran access to $4.2 billion in revenues blocked overseas if it carries out the deal, which offers sanctions relief in exchange for steps to curb the Iranian nuclear program.

"Western norms and institutions are not anathema to the Islamic Republic. However, Iran has consistently defended its own unique developmental trajectory," Tazmini noted.

She brought up the words of Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, which he said during his speech at the Davos Economic Forum, when he said that "it is important that Iran and US officials are talking and that negotiations are underway, but the US needs to accept Iran".

"If the West had accepted the fact that Iran became an Islamic republic or a sort of democratic theocracy all the way back in 1979, I firmly believe that the Iran and the US would have had much better relations," she underscored.

"If Iran had been left to follow its own developmental path based on its historical, revolutionary, cultural and religious experience, and its own civic and national identity, free from outside interference or pressure or sabotage, relations with the West would have be different," Tazmini said.

"I believe that there would have been a natural convergence rather than the stark polarisation we have seen over the past 34 years," she added.

The U.S. and its Western allies suspect Iran of developing a nuclear weapon - something that Iran denies.

The Islamic Republic has on numerous occasions stated that it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, using nuclear energy for medical researches instead.