THE AGREEMENT WILL BE A ‘TEST OF TRUST’
The experts approach the agreement, signed between Iran and America, England, France, Russia, Chia, and Germany, the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, to curb the Iranian nuclear programme, cautiously, and see the good mood between the parties as a “test of trust”.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Balkan Devlen, Lecturer at Izmir University of Economics-Department of Political Science and International Relations, reviewed the agreement Iran signed in Geneva to end a 34 year embargo, and stated that the agreement called for Iran to freeze the nuclear program, in other words, stop the enrichment of uranium and stop its production of nuclear weapons. In return, the agreement will unfreeze approximately $4 billion in Iranian assets, and Iran will gain relief from Western economic sanctions. “6 months later, the parties will convene to review the case. The current version of the agreement signals a temporary resolution. The parties took a step to test their good intentions, but that does not resolve the nuclear crisis. It only suggest a 6 month testing period, “said Assoc. Prof. Dr. Balkan Devlen.
‘Attention to uranium enrichment!’
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Balkan Devlen stated that there was no consensus on the right to enrich uranium and Iran insistently clarified that they were not going to give up their right. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Balkan remarked the following:
“The permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, especially USA, indicated that they were not going to bestow a right to enrich uranium. This is very important because Iran has the capacity to enrich uranium and can produce nuclear weapons in no time. There seems to be no improvement about this issue. This agreement created tension for Saudi Arabia and Israel the most due to the possibility of Iran’s developing nuclear weapons. They feel abandoned.”
‘Parties’ trust is important’
Devlen reminded that Israel stated they possessed nuclear weapons and they would attack Iran alone if necessary, and also that Saudi Arabia was getting ready to purchase nuclear weapons from Pakistan. He said that USA took these steps before reaching a full consensus with its allies in the Middle East. “This can cause more problems in the near future. In order for the agreement to work, both parties need to trust each other. However, the trust gap between the West and Iran is not an easy one to close. Neither, the West is ready to accept Iran’s power in the Middle East, nor Iran is ready to let go of the power games it plays using the Shiites in the region, and lose its power over countries such as Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. Therefore, there are significant differences between interests of both parties and they will not be overcome easily,” remarked Assoc. Prof. Dr. Balkan.
