Originally published on the CGS blog on September 29, 2013.
Good news and bad news came out the UN this week: the rumored meeting between Presidents Obama and Rouhani did not come to fruition but the Security Council did come to a consensus on Syrian Chemical Weapons but the resolution did not mention consequences. Earlier this week Obama and Rouhani had exchanged letters and the language used suggested that they believed a meeting would be beneficial. Compared to the rhetoric of his predecessor, Rouhani appears to be much more moderate and reasonable. He does not deny the Holocaust nor is openly belligerent and obstinate. Obama is also more moderate that his predecessors who refused to deal with Iran in any way and seemed to want war with the country. The meeting, unfortunately, did not take place; Iranian officials explained that they were worried about the political climate in Tehran and how such a meeting would be received. Secretary Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif did meet and had a constructive discussion. They agreed to a Security Council hearing on the Iranian Nuclear program in Geneva in October. Progress was made in improving US-Iranian relations but a meeting between Obama and Rouhani would have been more meaningful and significant and would have indicated a commitment to rapprochement.
There was finally progress from the Security Council concerning Syria on Thursday. The Security Council agreed on a resolution on disarming Syria of its chemical weapons. The resolution condemns the use of chemical weapons and the killing of civilians and states that the use of chemical weapons violates international law. The resolution does not threaten the use of force if Syria does not comply. This resolution is a huge step forward after years of Russia vetoing any resolution about Syria. This is also a huge victory in stopping the proliferation of chemical weapons. Scrutiny will probably be placed on countries that have not signed the Chemical Weapons Convention and are known to have large stores of chemical weapons, like Israel. After weeks and years of stalemate and roadblocks, particularly in the Security Council, substantial progress was made at the UN this week, hopefully more will follow.
