Ex-US diplomat highlights "shared interests" with Iran

Berlin, June 22, IRNA - A former senior US State Department official highlighted "shared interests" between Tehran and Washington in the region.

"I think there are areas where the US and other Western countries and Iran have shared interests," Mark Fitzpatrick who heads the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Program at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)
told IRNA in Berlin.

He added, "I think in Afghanistan and Iraq, there are shared interests."

The American expert cited the ongoing instability in Pakistan and the possibility of terrorists acquiring nuclear weapons as another area where Tehran and Washington could cooperate despite their differences over Iran's nuclear policy.

Fitzpatrick stressed the US-Iranian cooperation should be aimed at promoting mutual trust.

"I think, if only there could be a way to work together in one of these places to start to build up a little bit of trust. They did work together in these places in the past," he added, referring to US-Iranian cooperation in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Fitzpatrick pointed out the US overthrow of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the toppling of the Saddam regime in Iraq served also Iran's interests.

It ensured "better security" for Iran, he reiterated.

The US scholar joined the IISS in 2005 following a 26-year career in the American Department of State, where for the previous ten years he focused on non-proliferation issues.

In his last position, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Non-proliferation./end