24 Nov 2024
Tuesday 25 August 2015 - 10:14
Story Code : 177486

US should restore diplomatic relations with Iran - former Pentagon official

A former US Department of Defense senior security policy analyst claims that the United States should use the nuclear agreement with Iran as a window of opportunity to restore diplomatic relations.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) The United States should use the nuclear agreement withIran asa window ofopportunity torestore diplomatic relations, a former US Department ofDefense senior security policy analyst told Sputnik.

This is the time forthe administration togo ahead regardless ofwhat Congress does, former defense official Michael Maloof said onMonday.

Maloof noted that diplomatic cooperation betweenthe United States will make reversing the deal withIran harder.

Like the nuclear agreement, if it and other areas ofcooperation prove tobe working outby the time ofthe presidential elections, it will make any walking back ofthat cooperation more difficult tojustify, especially if there is a true spirit ofcooperation betweenthe United States and Iran, Maloof said.

On Sunday, the United Kingdom reopened its embassy inTehran, four years afterit closed the diplomatic mission. The UKs announcement comes asEuropean countries are eager toopen upbusiness relations withthe large Iranian market.

US officials have said they have no intention ofestablishing relations withIran asa host ofissues remain betweenthe two countries, including human rights concerns, support forterrorism and sanctions.
Unlike the British, I believe the US seems tohave more baggage tocarry, namely the lack ofsupport byCongress tothe nuclear agreement and Israel's control overUS foreign policy, such asits frantic efforts toget Congress toblock approval ofthe nuclear agreement, Maloof added.


On July 14, Iran and the P5+1 group ofcountries Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany announced a final comprehensive agreement onTehran's nuclear program inexchange forsanctions relief.
By Sputnik
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