Sir, – A recent article in The Irish Times seems to deliberately provoke readers’ anxiety and stoke fear regarding Iran (“Fears grow over Iran’s nuclear programme as Tehran digs a new tunnel network”, World, June 19th).
Relying almost wholly on biased official Israeli and US sources, the Iranian perspective is totally absent, thereby rendering it invisible to Irish readers and precluding them from proper understanding of the issue.
The article’s implication that Iran poses a “threat” and is the cause of the “stalemate” and “roadblocks” that have characterised the current impasse in the multilateral negotiations intended to restore the JCPOA (Iran nuclear deal) couldn’t be further from the truth.
Accurate media coverage would have explained that there is absolutely no equivalence between the reckless withdrawal of the US in violation of the nuclear deal and Iran’s subsequent decision to reduce its commitments purposely undertaken within the parameters of the agreement itself.
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People in Ireland would also need to know that not only the US but also the Europeans have totally failed to abide by their own commitments under the deal.
Furthermore, Iran has given repeated assurances that it will resume its obligations once it has been verified that all parties have returned to full compliance.
Reading this article one would think that it is Iran that is pressuring the US and Israel, especially since it completely omits the fact that not only has the Biden administration failed to lift any of the “maximum pressure” sanctions illegitimately and unjustly imposed by the Trump presidency, they have instead piled on even further sanctions. This is hardly conducive to successful diplomacy, nor are Israel’s repeated and consistent attempts to undermine the nuclear agreement, including assassinations, cyber-attacks and military strikes.
The simple truth which receives no mention at all in the article is that if the United States and its European allies put an end to their insane sanctions policy and returned to full compliance with the original agreement in accordance with their international obligations, a successful outcome to nuclear negotiations would be within reach. – Yours, etc,
Dr MASOUD ESLAMI,
Ambassador,
Embassy of the Islamic
Republic of Iran,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.