Expert: Six-party talks reduced the risk of strike on Iran

Azerbaijan, Baku, May 10 / Trend S.Isayev/ The six-party talks have at least temporarily reduced the risk of the strike on Iran, Senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, James M. Dorsey told Trend. Month of May can be considered a turning point for Iran, as this month Islamic Republic prepares to hold two talks in two different countries, regarding its nuclear program. First on May 13-14, Iran will host talks with the IAEA in Vienna, regarding Islamic Republic's nuclear program and its technical aspects. Iran's Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency Ali Asqar Soltaniyeh will handle the talks from the Iranian side. Then, on May 23, following the Istanbul meeting on April 14, Iran will once again meet with the "5+1" group (Britain, France, Russia, China and the United States plus Germany) to talk about a wide range of issues, including the nuclear issue. James Dorsey noted that if there was to be a strike on Iran, the fallout would be across the whole Muslim world. In case with Iran's close neighbor Afghanistan, Dorsey said the country will undoubtedly feel the impact. "The presence of U.S. troops in Afghanistan means that there would be a multitude of potential targets," he said. Not long ago the Pentagon analysts have said that it would take less than a month to defeat Iranian forces, should a military conflict take place. Dorsey added that it would be non-sensical to put a timeframe on how long it would take the US to knock out Iranian facilities not knowing a significant number of changing variables. "U.S. strategy would be to employ air and sea power rather than ground troops," Dorsey said. "Effectiveness of such strikes is a question of accuracy of US intelligence as well as timing in terms of how far Iran has progressed in hardening the fortifications of installations". Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az