Can nuke deal end decades of Iran-US enmity?

Baku, Azerbaijan, July 14 By Umid Niayesh - Trend: The long-awaited day has finally arrived for the Middle East after some 13 years, as Iran and the P5+1 inked the final nuclear deal on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. It is a big achievement for the main sides of the dispute, Tehran and Washington. The two opposing sides have achieved an important agreement, a first, after 33 years of hostility began in 1979 when Iranians overthrew the country’s last king, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and closest ally of the US in the region. Starting direct negotiations with US-the “Great Satan,” as it is referred to in Iran- was itself a big step for the Islamic Republic. Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who heads Iran’s expediency council, called the talks with the US, a ‘broken taboo.’ The former president, who is known as being a pragmatist politician, also said in a rare statement that reopening of an American embassy in Tehran is “not impossible”. Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who headed Iran’s nuclear team in the negotiations, wrote in the Financial Times on July 8 that the Islamic Republic is “prepared to open new horizons to address the shared challenges of far greater magnitude” after achieving an agreement over the nuclear disputes. Among these shared threats is the increasingly brutal extremism that is engulfing the heart of the Middle East, and even extending into Europe, according to Zarif. Earlier Mohammad Hassan Asafari, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, forecasted that achieving a nuclear agreement could prepare ground for more Tehran-Washington cooperation in the future. In an interview with Trend on July 2, the Iranian lawmaker said that reaching a nuclear deal is a test for future cooperation between the parties. Ali Taheri, other Iranian lawmaker also referred to cooperation in fighting the Islamic State (IS) group as the next step after the nuclear deal. However, the nuclear deal has raised concerns among the US traditional allies, in particular Israel and Saudi Arabia. They feel threatened that their regional rival could settle its disputes with the US one-by-one and might replace them gradually. Saudi Arabia worries that Iran has potential to unseat the country in the eyes of the west with its more adequate governmental system. A more powerful Iran is seen as serious problem by Israel, the country that the US sees itself committed to protect. The Iranians demonstrators called for its eradication last Friday, at the same time that Tehran’s negotiators were working out the nuclear deal in Vienna. And, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has never expressed positive words about the nuclear talks. On numerous occasions he has announced that the Iran-US disputes are beyond the nuclear case. Just days before achieving the nuclear agreement the Islamic Republic’s first person, argued that the struggle against the US will continue even if nuclear deal is signed. The lack of a powerful civil society in Iran is the Achilles Heel of the Islamic Republic pragmatists who are seeking cooperation with the global community and an end to tensions with other states. This fact along with the concentration of power in hands of some entities is threatening sustainability of political achievements such as the nuclear deal. Iran could surprisingly experience a new Mahmoud Ahmadinejad-the former radical president- who might return to the pre-agreement period, eye-blinded to all risks. So the future of Iran-US cooperation is mostly related to the power balance of the political groups inside the Islamic Republic. It may be considered very optimistic, but let’s hope pragmatists convince the radical powers again to work towards more cooperation with west in the regional issues, at least in the short- term, as they did in resolving the decade-old nuclear disputes. Edited by CN Umid Niayesh is Trend Agency’s staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @UmidNiayesh Stay up to date with latest Iran news on our specialized Facebook page Follow us on Twitter @TRENDNewsAgency