Presidential Candidates: Nuclear Policy Decided by Supreme
Leader Only (Kayhan, Islamic Republic of IRan)
Does the president of Iran have any influence over that nation's nuclear
enrichment program? According to this news item from Iran's state-run Kayhan on the upcoming presidential election, the answer is a
resounding 'no.' As the article shamelessly explains, the unelected supreme
leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, makes those decisions. What the article fails
to tell the reader is that the supreme leader also decides who can and cannot run for high
office.
The Decider: Despite Tehran's claims about being a 'democracy', it is the unlected supreme leader, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, who has the last word on all decisions of consequece, including on the nuclear issue.
TEHRAN:
The eight candidates standing for president this month may differ on a number
of issues, but when it comes to Iran's nuclear program, they are united about the
country's peaceful drive.
Whoever
is elected president to succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on June 14, the Islamic
Republic is unlikely to alter the course of its program of uranium enrichment.
It
is the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who
takes the key decisions in Iran, including on the nuclear issue.
"Without
a doubt, the results of the presidential election will have no influence on the
nuclear issue," the head of atomic energy FereydoonAbbasi-Davani has said.
The
presidential hopefuls, including the frontrunner, nuclear negotiator SaeedJalili, all insist that the nuclear project will
proceed.
"Regardless
of who is elected president in June, uranium enrichment activities will be
pursued without fear of the enemy ... The president must demonstrate this to the
supreme leader in a practical manner," Jalili says
on his campaign Web site. Jalili has been negotiating
on the issue with the world powers since October 2007.
Since
2003, Tehran has been engaged in talks to try and resolve the issue with not
only the world powers, but with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
As
a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Tehran maintains that it
is within its rights to pursue a civilian nuclear program for the generating of
electricity and for medical purposes.
Ayatollah
Khamenei and other senior officials have repeatedly said that making, owning,
or using atomic weapons is haram - forbidden under Islam. But such declarations have
fallen on deaf ears in the West, which has imposed a series of draconian and illegal
sanctions on Iran. None of them, however, have hampered Iranian resolve to go
ahead with its peaceful drive, which enjoys overwhelming support throughout the
nation.
On
Friday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that the election is unlikely
to alter Tehran's nuclear policy.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
"I
do not have high expectations that the election is going to change the
fundamental calculus of Iran," he told reporters. "So we will
continue to pursue ... every effort to have a peaceful resolution. But Iran
needs to understand that the clock is ticking."
Presidential
candidate and former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati believes that the controversy can be resolved
"without giving up nuclear technology."
"The
Supreme Leader said he is committed to retaining nuclear technology, and whoever
becomes president should carry out this policy," said Velayati,
who advises the supreme leader on global affairs.
Another
candidate, Hassan Rowhani, who was chief nuclear negotiator under
reformist former President Muhammad Khatami, asserts that "enrichment is our
legitimate right."
Conservative
candidate and former head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps., MohsenRezai, has spoken of
changing the way nuclear talks with the West are held.
"We
have to neutralize the sanctions. So far, negotiations have led only to their
intensification," said Rezai, who also stood for
president in 2009.
Iranian 'democracy': Fellow demonstrators struggle to stop the bleeding of
Neda Agha Soltan, June 12, 2009. The young woman was shot
dead by the
regime's vigilante-enforcers, the Basij, during a march against the widely-
disputed results of the 2009 presidential poll. This video is not
for children.
Tehran
Mayor and former national police chief Mohammad BagherGhalibaf is also
standing, and has expressed views similar to those of his presidential rivals.
"The
nuclear issue is a national cause that all governments will pursue," he
said.
Like
Kerry, analyst Alireza Nader of the American think
tank RAND Corporation expect little change in Tehran's nuclear policy.
"We
shouldn't expect much," if any of them become president, he said.
