PHOTO: US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday
Following the latest round of nuclear talks between Iran and the US, I spoke with Monocle 24’s The Briefing on Tuesday afternoon about the prospects for a comprehensive agreement.
I was joined by Marcus George, a long-term correspondent covering the Islamic Republic — we quickly dented the presenter’s opening of “good news” from Geneva.
Listen to discussion on February 24 program from 06:15 or use pop-out window
If there is going to be a deal, Iran is going to have significant cuts and restrictions on its nuclear program — not just now but for years — and it has to accept that it is not going to get immediate sanctions relief.
It has to capitulate to the West and, in the words used in the 1980s at the end of the Iran-Iraq war, “drink a cup of poison”….
The only way we get a deal is if Iran feels that it is in such an economic crisis — and there are signs of this — that it has to carry out a limited surrender.
Marcus George offers a bit of reassurance for the presenter’s hopes by noting that the talks are “unprecedented” in the level of discussion between the US and Iran.