Obama asks Kerry to engage Iran

UNITED NATIONS: US President Barack Obama directed his Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday to explore the possibility of resolving the differences that have plagued America’s relations with Iran since 1979. As Mr Obama made this announcement in his address to the UN General Assembly, all eyes focused on the Secretary General’s luncheon where many expected a chance meeting between the Iranian and American presidents. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, however, did not attend the luncheon, but the two leaders still have two more occasions to meet before Mr Obama returns to Washington. In his address to the UNGA, Mr Obama said he had asked Secretary Kerry to hold talks with Iranian officials over their nuclear programme. Referring to the tensions that began with Iran’s Islamic revolution in 1979, President Obama said he realised that this difficult history could not be overcome overnight as suspicions ran too deep. “But I do believe that if we can resolve the issue of Iran’s nuclear programme, that can serve as a major step down a long road towards a different relationship, one based on mutual interests and mutual respect,” he said. Mr Obama pointed out that since he had taken office he made it clear in letters to the Iranian Supreme Leader and more recently to President Rouhani that “America prefers to resolve our concerns over Iran’s nuclear programme peacefully, although we are determined to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon”. He assured the Iranians that “we are not seeking regime change and we respect the right of the Iranian people to access peaceful nuclear energy.” Instead, “we insist that the Iranian government meet its responsibilities under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and UN Security Council resolutions”, he said. As Mr Obama spoke, the US media noted that Iran’s Supreme Leader had recently issued a fatwa against the development of nuclear weapons, and President Rouhani just recently reiterated that the Islamic Republic will never develop a nuclear weapon. “The roadblocks may prove to be too great, but I firmly believe the diplomatic path must be tested,” Mr Obama said. He also acknowledged that President Rouhani had signalled interest in charting a more “moderate” course and disavowed interest in pursuing the development of a nuclear weapon. Saying that “conciliatory words” must be met by “actions”, Mr Obama hoped Secretary Kerry would “pursue this effort” to engage Iran, alongside representatives from the European Union and other global powers. But the US was also “determined to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon”, he added. On the sidelines of the UN session, Secretary Kerry is expected to meet his Iranian counterpart on Thursday, along with other diplomats. The meeting would mark the highest-level talks between the US and Iran in decades. President Obama, who recently backed off the threat of military force against the Assad regime in Syria, said he was still seeking a tough resolution from the UN Security Council to persuade Damascus to surrender its chemical weapons to the world body, as envisaged in a Russian peace plan. The Obama administration postponed a military strike against Syria only after Russia proposed a plan to disarm the Assad regime of its chemical weapons. The United States is also seeking a dependable monitoring system to ensure that Syria is fulfilling its pledge and threatens to use force against the Syrian government if it fails to do so. In his address, Mr Obama called for a “strong Security Council resolution” to hold Bashar Assad accountable. If the UN cannot agree to this, “then it will show that the United Nations is incapable of enforcing even the most basic of international laws”, he said. But a strong resolution, he said, would send a “powerful message” that chemical weapons had no place in the modern world. Earlier, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged world leaders to stop fuelling the bloodshed in Syria with weapons and get both sides to the negotiating table to end the “biggest challenge to peace and security in the world”. FOCUS ON TWO ISSUES: Mr Obama also said that in the near future, America’s diplomatic efforts would focus on two particular issues: Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and the Arab-Israeli conflict. “While these issues are not the cause of all the region’s problems, they have been a major source of instability for far too long, and resolving them can help serve as a foundation for a broader peace,” he said. He noted that in Syria, peaceful protests against an authoritarian regime were met with repression and slaughter. In the face of such carnage, many retreated to their sectarian identity -- Alawite and Sunni; Christian and Kurd -- and the situation spiralled into civil war, he added. “I do not believe that military action -- by those within Syria, or by external powers -- can achieve a lasting peace. Nor do I believe that America or any nation should determine who will lead Syria; that is for the Syrian people to decide,” he said. “Nevertheless, a leader who slaughtered his citizens and gassed children to death cannot regain the legitimacy to lead a badly fractured country. The notion that Syria can somehow return to a pre-war status quo is a fantasy.” Mr Obama said that America had already committed over a billion dollars to help resolve the Syrian crisis, and announced an additional $340 million for this purpose. “We are also determined to resolve a conflict that goes back even further than our differences with Iran, and that is the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis,” he said. “Friends of Israel, including the United States, must recognise that Israel’s security as a Jewish and democratic state depends upon the realisation of a Palestinian state, and we should say so clearly,” he added. “Arab states, and those who supported the Palestinians, must recognise that stability will only be served through a two-state solution and a secure Israel.”