West’s opportunity to re-engage Iran

The arrival of a new president in Iran offers a window of opportunity to the US to re-engage Iran and restart failed talks on Iran’s nuclear programme and many other matters. But as the pragmatic Hassan Rouhani takes office today as President of Iran, it will be very difficult for him to find a mutually satisfactory starting point for talks. Iran does not believe that Washington is institutionally capable of changing course and Washington cannot be sure that Rouhani has the authority to make a deal.

An additional problem is that the US wants a quick deal to contain Iran’s nuclear ambitions, but Iran sees this haste as a crude attempt by the US to dodge other bilateral issues. The US sees Iran’s hesitancy over making a deal as a blatant attempt to win more time as Iran secretly continues to develop its alleged nuclear weapons programme.

But there is hope as Rouhani begins his new job. Most importantly, he has a substantial mandate in the election that he won in the first round. It is also important that the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei did not query his victory, implying that Rouhani will be able to work well with Khamenei.

Rouhani is doing well by picking capable and experienced ministers, rather than stuffing his cabinet with friends and allies.

He has picked a very effective operator as chief negotiator in Mohammad Forouzandeh, who has been in charge of the huge Foundation for the Oppressed and Disabled, a vast charitable foundation which owns companies involved in petrochemicals, shipping, construction. The new foreign minister will be Mohammad Javad Zarif, who worked with Rouhani when he was Tehran’s chief nuclear negotiator. And former oil minister Bijan Zanganeh will come back to the old job that he held under the reformist government of 1997 to 2005 when he succeeded in attracting badly needed foreign investment to Iran.

These three appointments all indicate a desire for a pragmatic and non-confrontational restart to the nuclear talks that the whole region must welcome.