Arash Aramesh

In the first conciliatory remarks in months from an Iranian leader, Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, the chairman of the Assembly of Experts, told ISNA, the Iranian Students News Agency, that Iran must address international concerns regarding its nuclear program.

According to ISNA, Ayatollah Rafsanjani warned the 5+1 group and said, “Iran is satisfied with its rights, so stop making a historic mistake and be satisfied with your rights.” Rafsanjani was implying that Iran has the right to go forward with its peaceful nuclear program within the framework of NPT regulations and is not interested in going beyond the framework. The West must also abstain from overplaying its hands by denying Iran what it legally has the right to possess.

Rafsanjani also asserted, “We also must act within the framework of international conditions in order to address their [5+1] concerns” admitting that Western concerns are real and Iran has to address these concerns in order to avoid further tensions with the international community.

The government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad chose a confrontational path regarding nuclear negotiations with the West. Two years after assuming power in Iran, Ahmadinejad’s disagreements with Ali Larijani, Iran’s former chief nuclear negotiator, led to Larijani’s resignation and the appointment of Said Jalili, a hardliner with close ties to Ahmadinejad and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

In recent months, the international community has stepped up its efforts to impose economic sanctions on Iran in order to stop the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. The West accuses Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons. Iran has repeatedly denied these charges and insisted that its program is only for peaceful purposes.

Last month, following increasing pressure from the United States on Arab countries to assist the West in imposing sanctions on Iran, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei issued another religious decree banning the use and production of all nuclear weapons. His decree, however, was not taken seriously by the international community and many observers in the West believed that Khamenei’s decree was just empty rhetoric.

Rafsanjani’s remarks demonstrate that the Islamic Republic is anxious about an international campaign against Iran’s nuclear program. His statements also show his cautious disapproval of how Ahmadinejad has handled Iran’s nuclear dossier. It is expected that the Ahmadinejad administration will have a negative reaction in the next few days to Rafsanjani’s remarks. Pro-government forces have always accused the reformists and the moderate-conservatives of making too many concessions to the West when negotiating Iran’s right to enrich uranium.