Ten Private Sessions Between Iran and the US

roozonline.com

A Majlis representative from the hardline Steadfast faction has said that the Islamic republic had had at least ten private negotiations with the United States in the last twelve months over the nuclear issue. Speaking to Defa Press, Mahmoud Nabavian said Hassan Rouhani’s administration had been “fervently trying for a year to get approval from the regime to hold private talks with the US to discuss the nuclear issue.” During this period, he said, “more than ten private sessions had been held with the US over the nuclear issue but now the results of these sittings had to be evaluated.”

Nabavian did not elaborate on the details of the talks or their timings but it noteworthy that just a few months ago Iran’s leader ayatollah Khamenei had very clearly rejected talks with the US by saying that they were “useless” for Iran even on specific issues.

According to Nabavian at least some Majlis representatives seem to be now echoing Khamenei’s view and are calling for a change in Iran’s approach to the nuclear issue and talks with the US. He said, “Representatives request that the diplomatic machinery (of the country) change its course towards the West.”

Hardliners in Iran have in the past several times revealed the existence of secret talks between Iran and the US, sessions that have been held with the approval of the country’s supreme leader.

At the same time, ayatollah Khamenei has also been a critic of the talks and rejected them, at least in his public statements, and going as far as labelling them “harmful” to the Islamic republic. The last time he talked about the talks he said, “With the exception of the special cases, (these talks) have not only had no benefit, but have actually been harmful. Who in his right mind would do something that brings no benefit (to him)?” Ayatollah Khamenei has in the past been more specific about his pessimism. For example he had earlier said, “Regarding the nuclear talks (with the US), we do not prohibit this and monitor what Dr. Zarif and his friends have started have progressed well till today. This is yet another invaluable experience for all to note that these sessions and talks with the Americans have had absolutely no effect on reducing their animosity and are without benefit.”

In a more recent speech on the occasion of the Iranian New Year in March, Khamenei further said, “There is no problem in holding talks on specific issues, but as I have said before I do not trust in them, I am not optimistic about the talks. But if they want to talk, let them talk. We shall not lose anything, with the help of God.”

Commenting on Hassan Rouhani’s trip to New York last year and his telephone conversation with US president Barack Obama, ayatollah Khamenei said, “We support the administration’s diplomatic initiative and view diplomatic efforts with importance and support what took place during the recent trip. Some of the things that took place during the trip were of course not appropriate from our perspective, but we are optimistic about the diplomatic team of our dear government but are pessimistic about the Americans.”

Prior to Rouhani’s trip Khamenei had opined on talks with the US in these words: “In the past years some presented the view that if we sat and talked with the Americans many of our problems would be resolved. We of course knew this was not the case and the events of the past year have proven this reality for the umpteenth time.”

Earlier, some officials of the Islamic republic and a website close to the Revolutionary Guards had said that Iran and the US had held secret talks prior to Rouhani’s administration. Ahmadinejad’s foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi for example had told Arabic news service al-Alem that some officials within Ahmadinejad’s administration believed that direct talks should be held with the US. According to Salehi he then spoke with the supreme leader about this who had responded by saying, “The Americans cannot be trusted. They break their promises, their agreements and so cannot be trusted, and they have no sincerity.” He said that ultimately ayatollah Khamenei had told him, “It is ok (to hold talks). Go and do it but know that this is the last time. We shall take away their excuses and tell our people that we did use every opportunity to peacefully solve this issue in the context of our pride, wisdom and interests and we shall this way take their excuses away from them so that they do not play with public opinion.”

At that time, a website close to the Revolutionary Guards called Nuclear Iran had written that Khamenei had set four conditions for talks with the US, which included the absence of the foreign minister at the talks and the need for tangible results in the short term. The site had also written that the policy making for the talks was done by a “three-man committee which included three senior regime authorities,” and added that Ahmadinejad did not play a major role in the talks. The responsibility of the talks, according to the site, was with “a veteran foreign ministry deputy” while on the US side US vice president Joe Biden’s advisor Jack Sullivan and state department official Bill Burns participated in the talks. According to the site, “three meetings were held between the US and Iran prior to Rouhani’s presidency, adding that the US had accepted Iran’s right to uranium enrichment in those talks and had confirmed this through a letter to Iran.”