THE New York dialogue between the United States and Iran was widely acclaimed by the international community but the subsequent address to the General Assembly session by Iranian President Masoud Pazeshkian sent mixed signals about the possibility of a peaceful settlement in the near future. He told the world that war had been “imposed” on the Islamic Republic, declaring that Tehran would never stop defending itself, nor would it shy away from negotiations to achieve peace, and noting that while the atomic bomb is in Israel, the inspectors are in Iran.
No doubt, what the Iranian President has said is a principled approach as all countries whether small or big have the right to take measures to defend themselves and their national interests. However, the world has virtually turned into a jungle where might is right has become an order as highlighted by the remarks of Pazeshkian that the nuclear bomb is in the Jewish state but inspectors are in Iran. He also rightly pointed out that while Iran is being accused of terrorism, its leader and school children were targeted in the war, which constitute crimes against humanity, committed by those who claim to be champions of human rights. It was because of all this that almost the entire world sympathized with Iran but with the passage of time this sympathy is diluting because of uncalled-for expansion of war. Iran intends to pursue the same path as evident from its reaction to the US sanctions against its airlines, threatening it will, in turn, render regional airports non-operational. Luckily, despite challenges, Pakistan has declared it remains committed to facilitating dialogue between the United States and Iran and the two countries should demonstrate flexibility in their attitude so that mediation could lead to desired outcome.
