Azerbaijan, Baku, September 12 / Trend , T. Konyayeva /
Currently there are no prerequisites to ensure that Iran might withdraw from the membership of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) despite the possible sanctions from Western countries, said former Iranian MP, nuclear expert Ahmed Shirzad.
"Iranian officials have not yet made any official statements on this issue, Iranian expert told Trend by telephone from Tehran. - It is possible that in an informal manner some people make statements on this issue in order to put pressure, but currently Iran's foreign policy aims to continue cooperation with IAEA. "
According to him, five years ago, some ultra-conservatives were in favor of withdrawal from the NPT, multilateral international instrument developed by the UN Committee on Disarmament, but Iran's current policy does not intend to withdraw from the treaty. In addition, today there is no indication that this policy will change, expert said.
In February 2006, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued an order to suspend the execution of the additional protocol to the NPT after the adoption of the next resolution by the IAEA regarding the situation around Iran's nuclear program.
Shirzad believes that perhaps with the increasing pressure from the international community, the current situation can change, although Iran still fulfills the conditions of the NPT despite continuing pressure from Western countries.
U.S. and other Western countries accuse Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the guise of peaceful nuclear energy program. To prevent the creation of nuclear weapons and suspend Iran's nuclear program, the Western countries do not exclude the possibility to make a decision on the application of energy sanctions against Iran at the summit of G20, which is scheduled for September 24-25 in Pittsburgh.
According to Professor Shahram Akbarzadeh, escalating international sanctions will be seen by the conservative leadership in power as evidence of an international conspiracy against the regime as a whole, not any specific policies.
"The Iranian regime thrives politically in the atmosphere of economic and diplomatic sanctions by the international community, Akbarzadeh, Deputy Director of National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies at the University of Melbourne, told Trend via e-mail. - Pressure from outside only confirms the belief that the whole world is against Iran."
According to him, this siege mentality was at the heart of the Islamic regime at its founding, elevated into an ideology by Ayatollah Khomeini the founder of the Islamic Republic.
Akbarzadeh thinks that sanctions will not influence the behaviour of the regime because a change of behaviour will be seen as a succumbing to pressure.
This week, Iran presented a new package of proposals to "Six" member countries of negotiations on this issue (U.S., UK, Germany, France, Russia, China). In exchange for keeping the nuclear program, Tehran offered the West to assist in combating terrorism in Afghanistan, as well as oil and gas cooperation.
According to the statement by the U.S. State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley, Washington is not satisfied with Iran's proposal on its nuclear program presented last Wednesday, since in fact they are not an answer to the concerns of Americans.
Earlier, U.S. President Barack Obama offered Tehran trading privileges in exchange for curtailing its development in this area. Otherwise, the U.S. leader promised to tighten sanctions against Iran.
This miss-representation of international concerns will then allow the regime to galvanise its supporters and consolidate its hold on society, Akbarzadeh said.
"This is bad for the reformist camp in Iran. Once again, they will be presented as weakening Iran when the whole world is conspiring to defeat it. The reformers will find it very difficult to challenge the conservatives when the country is presented to be under siege and desperate for a united front," Akbarzadeh said.
Thus, according to experts, possible sanctions against the Islamic Republic will not cause Iran's refusal to implement the Non-Proliferation Treaty, but their use will only increase the impact of the current Iranian regime and weaken the opposition.
T.Jafarov contributed to the article.