Iran’s Nuclear File Returns to the Forefront

Rafael Grossi speaking on May 7 at Vienna Airport after his return from Tehran. (EPA)
Rafael Grossi speaking on May 7 at Vienna Airport after his return from Tehran. (EPA)
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Iran’s Nuclear File Returns to the Forefront

Rafael Grossi speaking on May 7 at Vienna Airport after his return from Tehran. (EPA)
Rafael Grossi speaking on May 7 at Vienna Airport after his return from Tehran. (EPA)

Iran’s nuclear file has returned to the forefront, with the approaching regular meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's governors, next month, in Vienna.
Neither Iran nor the agency deviated from the pre-written scenario, which is being implemented and consists of several stages. The first is for the agency’s director, Rafael Grossi, to take the initiative, several weeks before the meeting, to attract attention to the aforementioned file through heated statements, saying that Iran is not cooperating satisfactorily with his inspectors.
This stage paves the way for Grossi’s visit to Tehran and lengthy meetings with senior officials, usually followed by two press conferences: the first in Iran, alongside Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, or Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, and the second upon his landing at Vienna Airport.
What is often striking is that Grossi’s tone varies depending on the place. His rhetoric is diplomatic in Tehran, and direct, even sharp, in Vienna.
However, the last scenario takes place amidst very important transformations, the first of which is the entry of Israel directly into the line after the bombing of the Iranian consulate headquarters in Damascus and the killing of senior leaders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and the subsequent Iranian response inside Israel and the Israeli response inside Iran.
If a group of countries, led by the United States, intervened, directly or through mediation, to prevent sliding into open war in the Middle East region, this factor has a direct impact on the future of the Iranian nuclear program. Tehran has in fact always kept its nuclear program out of its general policy and within its “technical” limits.
But today, the situation has changed. After a senior Revolutionary Guard threatened that Iran can abandon its nuclear doctrine, which was determined by the Supreme Leader in a famous fatwa, here is his advisor, Kamal Kharazi, coming out to wave the nuclear card.
The Iranian Students News Agency quoted Kharazi as saying: “We have not yet taken a decision to make a nuclear bomb, but if Iran’s existence becomes threatened, there will be no choice but to change our military doctrine.”
It is clear today that Tehran has begun to view its nuclear program, and even present it as a “weapon of deterrence.”
Western capitals, led by Washington, were keen, in recent meetings, to avoid taking any measures against Tehran, in order to encourage it to calm tensions in the Middle East, as it has the ability to influence and stop supplying Russia with drones.

 

 



Israel Cancels Visas for French Lawmakers

French Ecologist party deputy Francois Ruffin was among lawmakers who had their visas cancelled by Israel. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
French Ecologist party deputy Francois Ruffin was among lawmakers who had their visas cancelled by Israel. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
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Israel Cancels Visas for French Lawmakers

French Ecologist party deputy Francois Ruffin was among lawmakers who had their visas cancelled by Israel. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
French Ecologist party deputy Francois Ruffin was among lawmakers who had their visas cancelled by Israel. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP

Israel's government cancelled visas for 27 French left-wing lawmakers and local officials two days before they were to start a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories on Sunday, the group said.
The action came only days after Israel stopped two British members of parliament from the governing Labor party from entering the country, AFP said.
It also came amidst diplomatic tensions after President Emmanuel Macron said France would soon recognize a Palestinian state. Macron has in turn sought to pressure Netanyahu over conditions in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Israel's interior ministry said visas for the 27 had been cancelled under a law that allows authorities to ban people who could act against the state of Israel.

Seventeen members of the group, from France's Ecologist and Communist parties, said they had been victims of "collective punishment" by Israel and called on Macron to intervene.

They said in a statement that they had been invited on a five-day trip by the French consulate in Jerusalem.

They had intended to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories as part of their mission to "strengthen international cooperation and the culture of peace", they added.

"For the first time, two days before our departure, the Israeli authorities cancelled our entry visas that had been approved one month ago," they said.

"We want to understand what led to this sudden decision, which resembles collective punishment," said the group.

'Major rupture'
The delegation included National Assembly deputies Francois Ruffin, Alexis Corbiere and Julie Ozenne from the Ecologist party, Communist deputy Soumya Bourouaha and Communist senator Marianne Margate.

The other members were left-wing town mayors and local lawmakers.

The statement denounced the ban as a "major rupture in diplomatic ties".

"Deliberately preventing elected officials and parliamentarians from travelling cannot be without consequences," the group said, demanding a meeting with Macron and action by the government to ensure Israel let them into the country.

The group said their parties had for decades called for recognition of a Palestinian state, which Macron said last week could come at an international conference in June.

Israeli authorities this month detained British members of parliament Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed at Tel Aviv airport and deported them, citing the same reason. Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy called the action "unacceptable".

In February, Israel stopped two left-wing European parliament deputies, Franco-Palestinian Rima Hassan and Lynn Boylan from Ireland, from entering.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reacted with fury to France's possible recognition of a Palestinian state. He said establishing a Palestinian state next to Israel would be a "huge reward for terrorism".