Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and the Nuances of Foreign Policy: Diplomacy’s Outcome vs. Protracted Negotiations
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in a conversation with reporters, pointed out some strategic aspects of the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy, which he oversees. However, in outlining these strategies, he demonstrated that there are still fundamental differences in foreign policy within the power structure.
He referred to some strategies regarding the JCPOA negotiations. Firstly, in diplomatic negotiations, one must be flexible in accepting the demands of the other party and in persuading them of one’s own views. In this regard, he mentioned his meeting with the representatives of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, stating that the representatives emphasized that the draft of the JCPOA agreement has flaws. However, he added that the Assembly must be aware that even if an agreement between Iran and Western countries is reached tomorrow, there might still be flaws in the text of the agreement.
The representatives of the Assembly emphasized that the draft of the JCPOA agreement has flaws. However, he added that the Assembly must be aware that even if an agreement between Iran and Western countries is reached tomorrow, there might still be flaws in the text of the agreement.
حسین امیرعبداللهیان وزیر خارجهHe attributed this to the demands of the other party and stated that the other party also has demands from Iran, and Iran cannot simply tell the other party that what they are saying is wrong and unacceptable to the Iranian side. He added that currently, there is a text that might contain flaws similar to those of the JCPOA. He considered these flaws to be inherent in the nature of negotiations and emphasized that those who negotiate are familiar with the art of negotiation.
Political View on the Nuclear Negotiation Team
These statements by Amir-Abdollahian come at a time when the same negotiating team has, for years, accused the previous negotiating team of being too flexible in negotiations and repeatedly emphasized that Iran, without regard to the system’s limitations and red lines, has given concessions to the other party. This notion that this approach is inherent to negotiations and that negotiators cannot include only their own demands in the agreement and must also consider the other party’s considerations has been repeatedly stated by the negotiating team and has been frequently criticized by JCPOA critics.
What Will the Final Text Be?
Now, after several months of negotiations and after months of repeating the same previous positions that Iran will not back down from its stances, the negotiating team has only recently concluded that the final text may not fully meet the Iranian side’s demands.
The second strategy Amir-Abdollahian mentioned is the issue of results-oriented diplomacy, which practically contradicts the negotiation perspectives of Jalili Bagheri’s thinking model in political negotiations, which believes that negotiations should be conducted for the sake of realization and achieving results.
Amir-Abdollahian emphasized that what people currently want is results and added that the people’s message is that enough negotiations and talks have been conducted, and now results should be achieved. The goal of results-oriented thinking is to break the deadlocks in negotiations, not to showcase negotiations, and it is unclear why, with such a strategy that he speaks of, these negotiations have taken more than ten months, even though the main agreements were reached in the previous government.
Another topic Amir-Abdollahian mentioned is that the main approach of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is national interests, and this approach has empowered the negotiating team at the negotiation table. Expressing this strategy without specifying the indicators of national interests and how to realize it practically remains at the level of slogans, and in this regard, Abdullahian does not provide details to support his words.
Amir-Abdollahian also pointed out an important topic that could ultimately lead to a strategic change in Iran’s foreign policy in the area of direct negotiations with the U.S. He said Josep Borrell, during his visit to Tehran, criticized the reciprocal transfer of requests between Iran and the U.S., stating that Europe is not a postman to return Iran’s envelope to the U.S. and the U.S. envelope to Iran.
This critical statement by Borrell indicates a fundamental weakness in the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic, which has so far, after Trump’s withdrawal from the JCPOA, refrained from direct negotiations with the U.S., and the operational logic of this refusal and its connection to national interests remain unclear, which even Ulyanov, the Russian representative, has criticized.
Plan B is on the Table
Amir-Abdollahian also said that the American side, in the recent Vienna negotiations, has relatively expressed verbal flexibility on two issues but emphasized that this flexibility must be converted into text, which could confirm speculations about parallel negotiations between the two countries. It seems that in the event of a JCPOA agreement, there will be more opportunities for direct negotiations between the two countries in the post-JCPOA era, given Amir-Abdollahian’s experience in conducting negotiations with the U.S., he might act more actively in this area.
The Foreign Minister also pointed to another strategic element in the government’s foreign policy, which is the readiness to implement a Plan B or an alternative to the JCPOA agreement, and said that even if the U.S. does not show the necessary flexibility, the world will not end, and Iran, like the U.S. and European parties, has its Plan B.
Many observers and experts emphasize that Iran can make the best use of the opportunity of Europe’s and America’s need for natural gas and fuel to secure Iran’s economic interests and assert that ignoring this advantage could inflict irreparable damages on Iran’s developmental and economic growth programs.
And the Islamic Republic’s Plan B could also confront the country’s current position with serious risks and challenging prospects, and in practice, it will not yield a desirable outcome. It seems Amir-Abdollahian knows that if he does not pursue results-oriented diplomacy, as he himself has emphasized, the public and public opinion expect results from him, and his ministry’s record will not receive an acceptable grade.