ANKARA/DUBAI: Iran may be ready to reach a nuclear deal with world powers to revive its economy, but is in no rush to go further by restoring relations with the United States, calculating this would imperil its domestic support.
According to one official, hardline loyalists of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have reached a compromise with supporters of the pragmatic president: Tehran should try to win relief from international sanctions by resolving the nuclear dispute, but not normalise ties with “the Great Satan”.
However, some allies of President Hassan Rouhani may not have given up on re-establishing relations with Washington, which were severed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Hostility to the United States has always been a rallying point for the clerical establishment, despite the decades of political isolation and sanctions-related economic hardship that estrangement has cost. Take this bogeyman away, and the ideological glue that holds together the faction-ridden leadership would weaken, analysts say. “Hardliners understand that a nuclear deal will benefit the establishment, but they see normalisation of ties with America as a threat to their authority,” said a pro-reform former senior official.
Iran and six powers the United States, Russia, France, Germany, China and Britain – are in talks on curbing Iran’s atomic activity in exchange for a gradual lifting of sanctions. They face a self-imposed November 24 deadline to conclude a comprehensive deal, after missing an original July target. The United States and some of its allies suspect Iran is using its nuclear programme as a cover to develop atomic bombs. Iran denies this, saying it is solely for civilian purposes.
Iran’s policy-making establishment, composed of hardline Islamists, pragmatists and reformers, agrees at least on one issue – that a comprehensive nuclear deal will help Iran to grow richer and politically stronger through the easing and eventual lifting of the sanctions.
Khamenei’s hardline allies are willing to tolerate top Iranian diplomats sitting down with US counterparts to discuss the nuclear issue. However, they fear a deal might pave the way for full relations with the United States, eventually weakening their influence, the authority of Khamenei and, by extension, the legitimacy of the Islamic Revolution.
While Rouhani’s camp believes it is vital to end the hostility with Washington to improve the economy, analysts and officials say, Khamenei’s conservative supporters want only a limited thaw between the arch-enemies. Normalisation of ties with Washington would mean crossing a red line for them.
Washington and Tehran cut diplomatic relations after students seized the US embassy in Tehran 35 years ago this week, holding 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
“The event this year is imbued with a spirit of antagonism toward arrogant powers. It calls for even louder slogans against America,” hardline cleric Alireza Panahian told a crowd gathered outside the former US embassy compound in Tehran, called the “Den of Spies” in Iran since the seizure.
“We will never come to terms with savage Americans, even if we have chosen to negotiate. Those cannibals, the Americans, shouldn’t jump to any conclusion with these talks,” he said to chants of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”, state television reported. (Reuters)
