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April 30, 2014
The Financial Times
Nuclear deal between US and Iran will come
Sir, Regarding Gideon Rachman’s World blog “The Iran deal that never was” (April 27): it was never meant to be a nuclear deal. It was always meant to be a framework that would be used to conclude a verifiable nuclear deal for both sides. What is most important and cannot be changed or stopped in the future is that, after 35 years of bitter estrangement, the US and Iran managed in these productive negotiations a first contact and the start of confidence-building that few thought possible.It is well to remember that in the eight years of Bush/Cheney, US diplomats were not even allowed to speak to their Iranian counterparts. The biggest obstacle is, and has always been, the lack of trust. US President Barack Obama and Iranian president Hassan Rouhani have acted, and continue to act, to create an opening to that missing trust, despite the rabid and vicious opposition and false characterisations of the negotiations in the US and Iran. In time, this important framework will lead to a verifiable nuclear deal agreeable to both sides no matter what the doubters say, the simple reason being that it is vital for the national security interests of the US and Iran in the region.
Fariborz S FatemiMcLean, VA, USFormer Professional Staff Member, House Foreign Affairs Committee, Senate Foreign Relations Committee