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Irans Foreign Ministry takes over nuclear negotiations, in sharp break with past
By Jason Rezaian, Thursday, September 5, 7:18 PM E-mail the writer
TEHRAN Irans new president, Hassan Rouhani, announced on his Web site Thursday that the Foreign Ministry will take charge of the countrys nuclear negotiations, effective immediately, marking another clear break between his administration and that of his controversial predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The move will make Mohammad Javad Zarif, Irans U.S.-educated foreign minister and a former ambassador to the United Nations, the Islamic republics lead nuclear negotiator.
Known as a pragmatist with close ties to Irans reform movement, Zarif is well known to many U.S. officials and is considered a moderate.
Until now, Irans Supreme National Security Council has handled nuclear negotiations. That body was established in 1989, and Rouhani served as its head for 16 years, until he resigned after Ahmadinejad became president in 2005.
In recent years, negotiations between Iran and world powers over its nuclear program have made little progress, with Irans team drawing charges of inflexibility from its counterparts in the P5+1 group, comprising the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany.
Since 2007, Saeed Jalili, an ultraconservative who was considered an early front-runner in Irans presidential election in June, has served as the lead nuclear negotiator. Jalili is known for his policy of resistance, based on the view that Iranian leaders should adhere to the ideological tenets of Ayatollah Khomeini, who founded the Islamic republic in 1979.
One of those guiding principles is profound antipathy to the United States, a stance that has been seen as incongruous with attempts to find a diplomatic solution to the problem posed by Irans alleged nuclear ambitions.
Improving Irans global image and foreign relations was one of Rouhanis key campaign promises, and giving control over nuclear negotiations to his Foreign Ministry, which is staffed with seasoned diplomats, many of them Western-educated, could signal that ultraconservatives will play a reduced role in foreign affairs during his presidency.
On Wednesday, in another move highlighting the distance between Irans new president and Ahmadinejad, Rouhani or whoever handles his English-language Twitter account tweeted: As the sun is about to set here in Tehran I wish all Jews, especially Iranian Jews, a blessed Rosh Hashanah.
Although Twitter and other social-networking sites are blocked in Iran, Rouhanis team has used the popular microblogging site since early in his presidential campaign to share his platforms and announce important policy decisions.
The tweet directed at Jews on Wednesday represented a major public departure for Irans leadership. Although the Islamic republic has long been opposed to the state of Israel or the Zionist Regime, as it is known here Iran is home to the largest community of Jews in the Middle East outside Israel and provides a seat in its parliament for a Jewish lawmaker.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry takes over nuclear negotiations, in sharp break with past - The Washington Post
By Jason Rezaian, Thursday, September 5, 7:18 PM E-mail the writer
TEHRAN Irans new president, Hassan Rouhani, announced on his Web site Thursday that the Foreign Ministry will take charge of the countrys nuclear negotiations, effective immediately, marking another clear break between his administration and that of his controversial predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The move will make Mohammad Javad Zarif, Irans U.S.-educated foreign minister and a former ambassador to the United Nations, the Islamic republics lead nuclear negotiator.
Known as a pragmatist with close ties to Irans reform movement, Zarif is well known to many U.S. officials and is considered a moderate.
Until now, Irans Supreme National Security Council has handled nuclear negotiations. That body was established in 1989, and Rouhani served as its head for 16 years, until he resigned after Ahmadinejad became president in 2005.
In recent years, negotiations between Iran and world powers over its nuclear program have made little progress, with Irans team drawing charges of inflexibility from its counterparts in the P5+1 group, comprising the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany.
Since 2007, Saeed Jalili, an ultraconservative who was considered an early front-runner in Irans presidential election in June, has served as the lead nuclear negotiator. Jalili is known for his policy of resistance, based on the view that Iranian leaders should adhere to the ideological tenets of Ayatollah Khomeini, who founded the Islamic republic in 1979.
One of those guiding principles is profound antipathy to the United States, a stance that has been seen as incongruous with attempts to find a diplomatic solution to the problem posed by Irans alleged nuclear ambitions.
Improving Irans global image and foreign relations was one of Rouhanis key campaign promises, and giving control over nuclear negotiations to his Foreign Ministry, which is staffed with seasoned diplomats, many of them Western-educated, could signal that ultraconservatives will play a reduced role in foreign affairs during his presidency.
On Wednesday, in another move highlighting the distance between Irans new president and Ahmadinejad, Rouhani or whoever handles his English-language Twitter account tweeted: As the sun is about to set here in Tehran I wish all Jews, especially Iranian Jews, a blessed Rosh Hashanah.
Although Twitter and other social-networking sites are blocked in Iran, Rouhanis team has used the popular microblogging site since early in his presidential campaign to share his platforms and announce important policy decisions.
The tweet directed at Jews on Wednesday represented a major public departure for Irans leadership. Although the Islamic republic has long been opposed to the state of Israel or the Zionist Regime, as it is known here Iran is home to the largest community of Jews in the Middle East outside Israel and provides a seat in its parliament for a Jewish lawmaker.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry takes over nuclear negotiations, in sharp break with past - The Washington Post
