Renewed Debate in Iran over Normalization of Ties with US

A consultative meeting, headed by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, held in Tehran last week. Former FM Ali Akbar Salehi is seen on the far left. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
A consultative meeting, headed by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, held in Tehran last week. Former FM Ali Akbar Salehi is seen on the far left. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
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Renewed Debate in Iran over Normalization of Ties with US

A consultative meeting, headed by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, held in Tehran last week. Former FM Ali Akbar Salehi is seen on the far left. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
A consultative meeting, headed by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, held in Tehran last week. Former FM Ali Akbar Salehi is seen on the far left. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)

The official Iranian newspaper strongly criticized a proposal by former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi to engage in comprehensive political dialogue with the West, including the US, to end the diplomatic estrangement and normalize relations after nearly 44 years.

In an extensive interview with the Entekhab website, which is closely affiliated with the team of former President Hassan Rouhani, Salehi stated that Iran has engaged in negotiations with the US on specific issues amid the challenges between the two nations.

He pointed to Iranian-US dialogues concerning Afghanistan, Iraq, prisoner exchanges, and the nuclear agreement.

However, Salehi emphasized that Tehran and Washington have not entered comprehensive and wide-ranging political negotiations covering other aspects.

Salehi had played a prominent role in leading the nuclear negotiations during the final months of his tenure as the Minister of Foreign Affairs under the rule of former conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Afterward, he assumed the presidency of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran at the beginning of Rouhani’s term in office.

He oversaw the transition of the previously secret nuclear talks, facilitated by Oman, into the public domain within the framework of the P5+1 in 2013. These negotiations culminated in the landmark nuclear agreement in 2105 after two years of deliberations.

“Given the regional and international circumstances, we have a good and opportune chance to engage in comprehensive political dialogue with the West, including the US and Europe,” said Salehi.

He pointed out that “relations between Iran and the US have been influenced by negative factors between the two countries for over 44 years.”

“Throughout these years, our relations have not been favorable and have been negative since the beginning of the revolution,” said Salehi about the revolt that toppled the Shah’s regime in 1979.

While referring to the suffering of Iranians due to the deteriorating living conditions over the past 44 years, Salehi attributed the economic downturn to “inefficiency in various administrative sectors.”

He also stated that “a significant portion of the current state of the country is a result of sanctions.”

“Due to the political situation and the challenges between us and the West, particularly the US, they exert pressure on us in any way possible,” noted Salehi.

He noted that his country has received recommendations from Russia and China regarding the need to regulate relations with the US “to resolve the issues” that are hindering Iran from expanding cooperation with Moscow and Beijing.

“In the face of these circumstances and economic conditions, we cannot establish relations with major banks in the world,” commented Salehi.

“Everything becomes costly for us, and we have needs that must be met from abroad because we cannot easily do so,” he added.

“We buy goods at multiple times their original prices,” he remarked, indirectly alluding to the repercussions of circumventing US sanctions.



US Sanctions 16 Allies of Venezuela's President over Accusations of Obstructing Election

A man holds a sign with the image of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and text that reads: 'Maduro, close the (Centro Penitenciario El Helicoide)' during a protest by the families of political prisoners in Venezuela demanding their release; in Caracas, Venezuela, 11 September 2024. EPA/RONALD PENA R
A man holds a sign with the image of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and text that reads: 'Maduro, close the (Centro Penitenciario El Helicoide)' during a protest by the families of political prisoners in Venezuela demanding their release; in Caracas, Venezuela, 11 September 2024. EPA/RONALD PENA R
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US Sanctions 16 Allies of Venezuela's President over Accusations of Obstructing Election

A man holds a sign with the image of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and text that reads: 'Maduro, close the (Centro Penitenciario El Helicoide)' during a protest by the families of political prisoners in Venezuela demanding their release; in Caracas, Venezuela, 11 September 2024. EPA/RONALD PENA R
A man holds a sign with the image of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and text that reads: 'Maduro, close the (Centro Penitenciario El Helicoide)' during a protest by the families of political prisoners in Venezuela demanding their release; in Caracas, Venezuela, 11 September 2024. EPA/RONALD PENA R

The US government on Thursday responded to Venezuela’s disputed July presidential election by imposing sanctions against 16 allies of President Nicolás Maduro, accusing them of obstructing the vote and carrying out human rights abuses.

Those targeted by the Treasury Department include the head of the country’s high court, leaders of state security forces and prosecutors. The move came days after the departure into exile of Edmundo González Urrutia, the former diplomat who represented the main opposition parties and claimed to have won the July 28 presidential election by a wide margin.

Venezuela’s electoral authorities declared Maduro the victor hours after polls closed, but unlike previous presidential elections, they never released detailed vote tallies to back up their claim arguing that the National Electoral Council’s website was hacked. To the surprise of supporters and opponents, González and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado shortly afterward announced not only that their campaign had obtained vote tallies from over two-thirds of the electronic voting machines used in the election but also that they had published them online to show the world that Maduro had lost.

Global condemnation over the lack of transparency prompted Maduro to ask Venezuela’s high court, stacked with ruling party loyalists, to audit the results. The court reaffirmed his victory.

Experts from the United Nations and the Carter Center, which observed the election at the invitation of Maduro’s government, determined the results announced by electoral authorities lacked credibility. The UN experts stopped short of validating the opposition’s claim to victory but said the faction’s voting records published online appear to exhibit all of the original security features.
“Rather than respecting the will of the Venezuelan people as expressed at the ballot box, Maduro and his representatives have falsely claimed victory while repressing and intimidating the democratic opposition in an illegitimate attempt to cling to power by force,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

According to The Associated Press, the State Department said it is placing new visa restrictions on Maduro allies who are accused of impeding the vote and repressing Venezuelans. The department did not name those individuals.

The potential effect of the individual sanctions and visa restrictions announced Thursday is unclear. Previously punished Maduro loyalists still play key roles in Venezuela's government, including as vice president, attorney general and defense minister.

Venezuela’s government released a statement that characterized the latest set of sanctions as a “rude act that seeks to ingratiate itself with a political class that has resorted to fascist and violent practices to overthrow, without success,” Maduro.