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Analysis: US and Iran: The art of the nuclear deal

by Ali Gharib

In the decade-plus since Iran's plans to enrich uranium became public, all diplomatic efforts to address Western concerns over the program have failed. Instead, escalating sanctions have piled pressure on Iran's economy, while talk of "closing diplomatic windows" has created a sense of imminent crisis over the Tehran acquiring the ability to manufacture nuclear weapons. But new hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough have been raised by the inauguration in June of the moderate President Hassan Rouhani, who has been given the green light by Iran's clerical Supreme Leader to negotiate with Western powers. Still, while Rouhani is an engaging and conciliatory figure, a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff would require a formula that accommodates the key concerns of each side.

For the West, that key concern is Iran's capacity to build nuclear weapons: U.S. intelligence maintains that Tehran is not currently building nuclear weapons and has not taken a decision to pursue that option, but it is steadily accumulating technological infrastructure that would allow it to build a bomb. Western powers are skeptical of Iran's insistence that its nuclear work has exclusively civilian purposes, while Israel – which has constantly pressed for a tougher U.S. line – believes Tehran is racing to acquire weapons that would, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says, pose an "existential threat" to his country.

Iran's key concerns boil down to recognition of its rights as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) – which allows peaceful use of the full nuclear fuel-cycle, including enriching uranium – and to have its regime and its regional role acknowledged. Rouhani, in a recent Washington Post opinion piece expressed this as a "demand for dignity and respect and our consequent place in the world." And in an NBC interview, Iran’s president called for an end to "threats and sanctions and (the) use the language of insult and intimidation."

Despite their differences, each side has clear motivation to seek a deal: Iran's economy has suffered considerable pain under Western sanctions, and its need to break out of its isolation and reintegrate into the global community can only be realized by resolving the nuclear dispute. For the U.S., the failure of seven years of sanctions to force Iranian capitulation has raised the prospect of the standoff escalating towards a potentially disastrous confrontation.

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United Nations General Assembly President John Ashe addressed the vital role of this debate’s push for Millennium Development Goals and multilateral conversations on issues of sustainable development.

Ashe began his speech outlining eminent and impending strife in bloodshed between and within states, gender violence, adverse effects of climate change, loss of biodiversity and the urgency to address them approaching the MDG deadline of 2015.

“I am prepared to point you in the direction where the balance of interest in the entire entity lies but you [UN members] need to commit to working on your shared agenda," said Ashe. "We know how to make the UN work.”

Ashe set the stage for post-2015 agenda with three high level events and three thematic debates with poverty eradication and environmental sustainability as central and overarching goals. Ashe hopes to implement a new agenda

“It will completely redefine partnership cooperation, equity in social and gender peace, good governance, and economic growth based on sustainable environment,” Ashe said.

Video: President Obama addresses the UN General Assembly on September 24, 2013

Brazil brings NSA scandal to the UN

In the opening speech at the UN General Assembly Tuesday, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff delivered a resounding condemnation of what she called a “global network of electronic espionage,” a likely reference to recent allegations that the US National Security Agency intercepted her communications, hacked into the state-owned Petrobras oil company's network and spied on Brazilians over Facebook and Google.

“The right to safety of citizens of one country can never be guaranteed by violating fundamental human rights of citizens of another country,” Rousseff said, never mentioning the United States or NSA by name.

She called for the establishment of an international framework for Internet use and communications to build on a landmark July 2012 UN motion that extended human rights to the digital sphere.

“The United Nations must play a leading role in the effort to regulate the conduct of states with regard to these technologies,” Rousseff said.

The July 2012 motion, which was supported by both Brazil and the United States, affirmed that “the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online.”

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Senior administration officials came to the press pool hold around 2:45 pm ET to say that the White House had offered to have "an encounter" on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, but the Iranians informed US officials Tuesday that it is "too complicated for Iranians to do at this point."

Officials said Secretary Kerry will engage with his counterpart on the nuclear issue.

"There will be no meeting," one official said. "It was clear that it was too complicated for them."