West Urged to Seize Opportunity to Improve Iran Relations
IRNA, Tehran, 18 March 2009
18 March 2009
London - The West should not delay its attempts to improve relations with Iran until later this summer, a leading nuclear scientist has said. "Now is the moment to press the 'restart' button on relations with Iran and get out of the box of previously defined schemes," said Professor Paolo Cotta-Ramusino, the secretary general of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.
The Pugwash Conferences is working for over 50 years to bring together influential scholars and public figures from around the world to seek cooperative solutions for global problems.
In 1995, it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its work on nuclear arms control and disarmament.
"If the US and the EU decide to wait for the Iranian elections in the hope of a change in the presidency, crucial time and opportunities could be lost. Things that are possible now will not necessarily be possible later" said the professor of Theoretical-Mathematical Physics at the University of Milan.
The Italian scientist was speaking after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday offered Iran a "test case" deal in help countries to develop nuclear power for civilian use, which he welcomed as going "in the direction of beginning a more constructive dialogue with Iran."
"In recognising Iran's right to nuclear energy, and in offering to use Iran as a 'test case' in helping non-nuclear countries develop civilian nuclear power in a way that reduces the associated nuclear weapons proliferation risks, Brown begins to frame the central concerns in a way that might lead towards a more productive interaction between Iran and the West," he said.
"Coupled with the US President Barack Obama's offer to find ways to negotiate with Iran, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's offer to invite Iran to upcoming discussions on Afghanistan, it seems that West is finally starting to recognise the need to discuss proliferation concerns in a broader strategic framework," Cotta-Ramusino added.
In an published in the Guardian newspaper on Wednesday, the professor suggested that in any successful negotiations, Iran must be convinced it will be able to acquire economic and political gains, while the West must be reassured about containing the risks of nuclear proliferation.
From his experience of some Iranian officials meeting Western and other experts at four conferences organised by Pugwash in Europe last year, the professor said that the general philosophical approach of the Iranian political leadership is that agreement is possible if certain 'basic principles' including 'justice' are respected.
"Justice also requires that there should be 'no extra discrimination', in addition to the already discriminating distinction in the NPT between Nuclear Weapon States and Non-Nuclear Weapon States," Cotta-Ramusino said.
He reminded the West that nothing in the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty forbided uranium enrichment and that the relationship between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is "rather a positive one (and could be better if the additional protocol were ratified). "
"If future talks are focused only on denying enrichment capability to Iran, these talks will go nowhere, while as for preventing proliferation, what really matters is monitoring and international control," said the Italian scientist.
Touching upon the isuue of threatening Iran with more sanctions, he said that "on the contrary, if nuclear activities are developed in a climate of international cooperation, then chances are that we will have a situation of better transparency."
"There are many important initiatives that should be put to Iran," he suggested including the holding of dialogue on regional issues which would be started with the issue of maritime security in the Persian Gulf, Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine as well as discussions on disarmament and non-proliferation issues and specific safeguards for nuclear civilian programs.
Looking ahead, Cotta-Ramusino believed that common interests in proceeding towards the re-establishment of US-Iran diplomatic relations may include first having relevant departments manned by nationals of each respective countries, organising exchange of visits between the two sides parliamentarians, discussing economic cooperation in conjunction with the removal of sanctions and facilitating cultural and scientific exchanges and visits.
© IRNA 2009
