Obama-Rouhani: lights, camera, action

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By Pepe Escobar


The stage is set. By now it's established Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has given full authority to the new administration of President Hassan Rouhani to talk directly to Washington about Iran's nuclear program.

This happened only a few days after US President Barack Obama leaked that letters had been exchanged between himself and Rouhani.

Rouhani's empowerment was first confirmed later last week by extremely credible former nuclear negotiator ambassador Seyed Hossein Mousavian in this op-ed published in Japan. Mousavian was Rouhani's deputy in Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) from 1997 to 2005. Then Rouhani himself expanded on it this Wednesday in an interview with NBC.

It's crucial to consider the Supreme Leader's exact position. This past Tuesday, he addressed the elite of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in Tehran. [1] The key quote: "We don't accept nuclear weapons, not for the sake of the US or others, but
because of our beliefs, and when we say that no one should have nuclear weapons, certainly we are not after them either."

in full: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-01-190913.html

[Jefferson23]

1. World reacts to Rouhani's no nuclear pledge By Radio Free Europe

Comments by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that his government would never develop nuclear weapons have sparked world reaction.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Rouhani's comments on September 18 to US TV were positive, but cautioned that "everything needs to be put to the test."

That message was echoed by White House spokesman Jay Carney.

"There have been a lot of very interesting things, said out of Tehran and the new government, and encouraging things but
actions are more important than words. And one of the reasons why we are seeing this change in rhetoric, we believe is because, oh we know, is because of the the international consensus that has been established with the president's leadership behind the proposition that Iran must give up its nuclear weapons program and that consensus has been backed with the most severe sanctions regime in history," Carey told reporters in Washington on September 19.

Carey reiterated that President Barack Obama has been open to talks with Tehran since he came into office.

"It has long been the position of President Obama since he was a candidate and this was a matter of debate during the Democratic primaries in 2008 as well as during the general election, that he would, as president be willing to have bilateral negotiations with the Iranians, provided that the Iranians were serious about addressing the international community's insistence that they give up their nuclear weapons programs. That is the position that we hold today," Carey said.

Earlier on September 19, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he was "very encouraged" by Rouhani's interview with NBC News, including remarks that he has the authority to negotiate a deal with the West on Iran's controversial nuclear program.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-01-200913.html