Iran's conservatives silent as Rouhani puts nuclear talks on diplomatic footing

theguardian.com

The news came in a low-key, brief statement from Hassan Rouhani's public relations office: "The president has handed the responsibility for nuclear negotiations with foreign nations to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

No longer would the Iranian side be led by the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC). Within hours of the announcement, Catherine Ashton, the European Union foreign policy chief, announced she had contacted Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's new foreign minister, and agreed to meet on the sidelines of the UN meeting in New York later this month.

Ashton co-ordinates the '5+1' – the permanent members of the UN security council plus Germany – who have been in largely fruitless talks with Iran over its nuclear programme for seven years. The last round was in Istanbul in May.

Iranian negotiators have been led since 2003 by the Secretary of the SNSC, at that time none other than Rouhani, who took Iran into two years of negotiations with the European Union during which Tehran suspended all uranium enrichment before a tentative, preliminary agreement broke down.

Rouhani's new move is partly to create a clearer decision-structure but also reflects his confidence in Zarif, who is US-educated as well as known to many US politicians, including vice-president Joe Biden, from his stint in New York from 2002 to 2007 as Iran's UN representative.

"Having a new foreign minister, the first to be respected internationally in three decades, and also a quick decision-making process between him and the president, this is the only workable way to tackle the crippling nuclear crisis," said Kourosh Zaim, a leading member of the opposition National Front party in Tehran.

In the reformist press, Samira Farahbakhsh argued in Mardom Salaarie (Democracy) that Zarif was "held in high esteem" by western diplomats given his "relatively comprehensive understanding of the behaviour of Western players".

It has also been argued it was important for Rouhani to put talks under a diplomatic rather than a security rubric.

Iran Diplomacy, a website associated with Sadegh Kharrazi, former ambassador to both the UN and France, has posted an article headlined The End of Viewing Nuclear Negotiations a Security Issue, suggesting the move "tells foreigners that Iran has changed the character of the issue from one of security to diplomatic/political, and that they should reconsider their stance as well...[as understanding] the Iranian side is looking for a win-win outcome".

Kharrazi is close to Zarif, and the pair worked together closely on the 2003 Grand Bargain offer to the United States, an initiative ignored by the Bush administration.

The article reiterates Kharrazi's experience that Iran requires a positive response from Washington: "Of course, the transfer of the dossier from SNSC to the foreign ministry doesn't necessarily suggest that Iran will step back from its [claim to] legal rights [for nuclear development under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty], or that this impasse will be resolved and overcome quickly. Resolution of such an impasse depends on the political will of all sides, and for as long as such a will doesn't exist, then the best decision-making systems and the most astute diplomats will produce nothing."

But domestically at least, Rouhani seems to have the momentum with him after his overwhelming presidential election victory in June. When he held talks with the Europeans between 2003 and 2005, Rouhani and his negotiating team were subject to stinging attacks in the conservative press. So far, as president Rouhani has experienced nothing of the sort.

In 2003-05 the Kayhan newspaper led the way with a series of critical editorials by Hossein Shariatmadari, who as editor-in-chief is an appointee of the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In reacting to the transfer of the nuclear file to the foreign ministry, the paper has simply noted the move, offering no immediate analysis or opinion.

Similarly, Resalat, a daily close to the right-leaning Motalefeh (coalition) Party, has chosen silence.

Raja News, a website staunchly in support of the still SNSC secretary and defeated presidential candidate Saeed Jalili, has also been mute, prompting speculation in Tehran that Ayatollah Khamenei's office has advised editors not to criticise Rouhani at a delicate time in international affairs.

Not that the SNSC is entirely out of the picture. In an interview with the semi-governmental Mehr News Agency, Zarif said talks would be carried out "in consultations with the SNSC and other relevant organs". Marzieh Afkham, the first female spokeswoman for the foreign ministry, has also spoken of "necessary co-ordination" with the SNSC.

One editor-in-chief of a reformist publication told Tehran Bureau he was sceptical about the whole move. "It seems to me that decision-making will remain with the council," he said. "The foreign affairs ministry can only execute the council's decisions. We have to see if the negotiation strategy will change, or just the faces of the negotiators."

But the editor did concede that Zarif is "a truly powerful negotiator".

Zaim, a long-term critic of the Iranian authorities, was even more optimistic in foreseeing a "U-turn in IRI foreign diplomacy from hard-headedness and stupidity to some sort of wisdom".

Zaim added that he hoped Rouhani and Zarif would be given room – at home and abroad – to find solutions. "This turnabout of course is a good sign and we hope it will bear positive results provided the 5+1 also approach the upcoming negotiations with [an] intent to resolve the crisis," he said. "I believe the Supreme Leader is taking a back seat in this process, because it is a do or die proposition."

A professor in Iran told Tehran Bureau he was delighted to see the end of Saeed Jalili's responsibility for handling the nuclear talks. "He never learned anything about diplomatic protocols except for his mistimed and misplaced smiles. I can truly call Jalili the most incapable Iranian diplomat since the Qajar dynasty [1779-1924]."

‎Tehran Bureau's Nuclear Watch series monitors the way the Iranian media reports the country's nuclear programme