Entrusting Iranian Nuclear Diplomacy to Foreign Minister

Question posed by Kelly Golnoush Niknejad, Editor-In-Chief

Tehran Bureau Magazine

September 8, 2013 (16/06/1392 (

Question: Thank you so much for accepting our invitation. This is an honor. After weeks of spreading a rumor which Hassan Rouhani’s administration is deciding to entrust the Iranian nuclear diplomacy directly to foreign minister, it is finally happened.   What is your analysis about it, would you consider it as a large change in Iranian policy toward negotiation with 5+1 group? Would you find it as a good signal from Iran? What is the role of Iranian Supreme leader on such decision?

Answer: Up to now, the nuclear dispute has been managed by National Security Council in which hardliners have had majority. The members of NSC besides the President and Foreign Minister and a couple of other cabinet members, include Parliament president, heads of Judiciary, Revolutionary Guards, Army, and Chief of all armed forces, plus the Information Minister. Non-cabinet members wield a lot of influence, but come short in understanding diplomacy and long-term vision.

Rouhani was selected to be elected in order to resolve the nuclear crisis and the problem of international sanctions; which, couples with extreme mismanagement has left the economy in ruins and the country on the brink of war. The National Security Council, whose members have been instrumental in creating the crisis, was not fit for crisis management. The new foreign minister, the first to be respected internationally in three decades, and a quick decision-making process between him and the President, was the only workable way to tackle the crippling nuclear crisis.

I believe we will be witness a U-turn in IRI foreign diplomacy from hardheadedness and stupidity to some sort of wisdom. This turnabout of course is a good sign and we hope it will bear positive results provided the 5+1 also approach the upcoming negotiations with intent to resolve the crisis. I believe the “Supreme Leader” is taking the back seat on this process, because it is a do or die proposition.