Originally published on the CGS blog on October 18, 2013.
New negotiations concerning Iran’s nuclear program occurred this week in Geneva. Iran met with the P5+1 countries, the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. During the meeting, Iran officials said they proposed a plan to ease back Iran’s nuclear program. The plan focused on specific aspects of the program which EU officials found encouraging. The participants hope to meet again in Geneva in the near future to continue the discussion that. These are the first nuclear talks that have occurred since Rouhani was elected President of Iran.
The results of this meeting will hopefully lead to better relations between Iran and the United States. If Iran opens up about its nuclear program more can be done to ensure that it is in fact a nuclear energy project and will lead to more trust. Eventually both sides can open up formal diplomatic relations with one another, leaving the past in the past and moving on.
The actions and speeches from Netanyahu’s Israel are very concerning. Netanyahu is loudly proclaiming that Rouhani is deceitful, and nothing has really changed. Netanyahu is acting as a spoiler to moving forward in diplomacy; he obviously does not want anyone to have any relations with Iran beyond hostile ones. In global politics there can never be complete trust but there is a difference between being reasonable and laying one’s cards on the table for all to see. A little trust is required for negotiations to go anywhere, –not blind or unreasonable trust, just a small amount of good faith. If Iran is not consulted, and not treated like an important player in the region why should they not develop nuclear weapons?
The outcome of this initial meeting was very positive and hopefully will lead to further negotiations. The international community can then verify Iran is not developing nuclear weapons, in which case diplomatic relations may improve and economic sanctions can be loosened.
