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Ariel Cohen: When Iranian regime not compromising, it leaves no choice for US

Iran Materials 2 October 2012 17:34 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 2 / Trend A.Badalova /

When Iranian regime not compromising, it leaves no choice for US but to impose sanctions, leading expert of the Heritage Foundation for Russian and Eurasian Studies and International Energy Policy and member of Trend Expert Council, Ariel Cohen said in interview with Trend.

"When the Iranian regime is not compromising, is not meeting the international community and its demands even half way they are leaving no choice to the US and to others but to impose sanctions," Cohen said.

Cohen also stressed that whoever is the president after the elections in the US, he will have to make a decision what have to happen if the sanctions fail.

He stressed that the US and Obama administration were doing everything possible to prevent a military solution.

"But I think the Iranian leadership is making it almost impossible by insisting on continuation of their nuclear program that the Europeans, the US, and even Russia and China when devoted for the sanctions understand how dangerous it is not just for the Middle East but for the whole world," Cohen said.

"We cannot afford to have another nuclear armed state that has an extremism regime that was extremely critical of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani model, Azerbaijani people but also is in confrontation with other countries with Sunni Arab countries, Israel, Europe and the US," he added.

The United States imposed sanctions on Iran after 1979 Islamic revolution, while more recent rounds of sanctions by the US and EU were imposed on Tehran on the pretext of its peaceful nuclear program.

The European Union has imposed restrictions on cooperation with Iran in foreign trade, financial services, energy sectors and technologies, and banned the provision of insurance and reinsurance by insurers in member-states to Iran and Iranian-owned companies.

Iran insists that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes, and warned that it will retaliate if it comes under an attack.

Iranian nuclear talks in June ended without a breakthrough, while the P5+1 -- the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany - are expected to discuss with Tehran on the sidelines of the ongoing UN General Assembly in New York.

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