Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 23
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
The Iran-US relation is still in waiting phase, Hooshang Amirahmadi the president of American Iranian Council told Trend Sept. 23.
The expert made the remarks while commenting about the Tehran-Washington ties in the short-term.
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has closed all doors to the relations with the US, Amirahmadi said, adding Khamenei is waiting for the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) by the other side, including lifting the sanctions.
If the implementation of the nuclear accord satisfies Khamenei, he will permit for negotiating issues beyond the nuclear case, the expert added.
After several months of talks, on July 14, Iran and the P5+1 (US, Russia, China, France, UK, and Germany) announced a final accord, curbing Iran 's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of most international sanctions.
Following the deal, Khamenei, who has the last word in the Islamic Republic has emphasized that he did not issue permission for negotiations on other topics with the US and Tehran-Washington talks will never go beyond the nuclear issue.
Meanwhile the country's pragmatist president Hassan Rouhani has expressed readiness to hold talks with the US on ways to resolve the Syrian civil war.
Amirahmadi believes that if the nuclear deal faces some problems via Iran 's viewpoint in implementation phase or new sanctions are imposed against Tehran , the mutual ties between Iran and the US will become even worse than the pre-deal period.
He further touched upon the speculations about the possible meeting of Rouhani with his US counterpart Barack Obama in New York on the sidelines of the 70th United Nations General Assembly which will kick off on September 25.
No official visit is scheduled, Amirahmadi said, underlining that materializing of an unplanned, accidental meeting is very unlikely as well.
He further said that if it happens it will be similar to a miracle.
"The Iranian side has neither plan, nor purpose for meeting while Khamenei has not issued any permission for that."
Iran's supreme leader has allegedly even banned any phone talk between foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif with his US counterpart John Kerry.
It should be noted that Rouhani and Obama spoke by phone in September 2013 on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly. The phone conversation was the first direct communication in decades between the heads of state of the two countries. Iranian conservatives severely criticized Rouhani on the issue.
Amirahmadi said that Rouhani and his top diplomat will most likely carry on a popular diplomacy in their New York visit, trying to convince the US public opinion including the US Iranians about the nuclear deal.
They will also try running a trust-building diplomacy in New York , to assure their nuclear negotiating parts from the EU and US about Iran 's goodwill in implementing the deal.
Rouhani will leave Tehran for New York on Sept. 24. He will deliver a speech and hold meetings with heads of states and officials of other countries. Rouhani is also scheduled to meet Iranians living in the US and to have interview with different TV networks.
This is the third visit of Rouhani to New York since he took power in August 2013.
Umid Niayesh is Trend Agency's staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @UmidNiayesh