Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 17
By Saeed Isayev - Trend:
Right now, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani is safe from the attacks from extreme conservatives, because he has the backing of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, chairman of the Centre for Iranian Studies at SOAS, University of London and author of "On the Arab revolts and the Iranian revolution: Power and resistance today", Arshin Adib-Moghaddam told Trend.
Speaking about the normalization of relations between Iran and the U.S., Adib-Moghaddam said that without a doubt, both U.S. President Barack Obama and Hassan Rouhani are faving hardliners in their own countries, that are against any improvements between the two countries.
"The rightwing are a problem in both countries because they are tied into the machination of war," he said. "They are in many ways, the merchants of conflict and antagonism."
"Currently, Rouhani is safe from their attacks because he has the backing of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah ALi Khamemei. As long as there is progress in the diplomatic negotiations that will continue to be the case," Adib-Moghaddam said.
Further speaking about Iran's nuclear program, head of the Iranian Studies center believes the Islamic Republic's intentions are all for peaceful nuclear energy.
"Those who do not see that Iran is genuinely seeking a peaceful solution to the nuclear conflict are either blinded by irrational hatred or they have a political agenda opposed to diplomacy," he said.
"Currently, there is a positive atmosphere, the Obama administration is on board and all stakeholders are involved in the diplomatic process," he said. "It is difficult to foresee for sure what will happen."
"A genuine effort to end the punitive sanctions regime will be reciprocated by Iran with genuine trust-building measures which will ensure that they nuclear energy program of the country is merely used for civilian purposes," Adib-Moghaddam noted.
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.
It should be noted that 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 agreed to implement the reached agreement on 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.
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