Interview with Ali Safavi of NCRI
BBC Radio, Five Live, December 24 – Iran says it will continue its nuclear program despite the threat of the United Nations-backed international sanctions. Earlier the UN Security Council vote unanimously to impose restrictions on Tehran if its uranium enrichment program is not halted immediately.
Iran immediately reacted to the decision, declaring it invalid and illegal and claimed they won’t hinder their work. So what impact will this move by the UN have and can Iran back of its claims of defiance?
Dr. Ali Safavi is from the National Council of Resistance of Iran is on the line.
Presenter: Just talk to me about the kind of impact that these sanctions could actually have?
Ali Safavi: I think it is the first necessary step to prevent the Iranian regime from obtaining nuclear weapons. And contrary to the propaganda and rhetoric by the Iranian regime, the sanctions will have an impact and will hinder Tehran’s drive to acquire nuclear weapons. That is why in the weeks and days leading up to the adoption of this resolution, the Iranian regime did its utmost to prevent its adoption by offering nuclear contracts to a number of permanent members of the Security Council and also engaging in harsh rhetoric and also threatening the international community if in fact the sanction resolution was adopted.
Question: So, how much actual clout does the UN have in Iran?
Ali Safavi: You now have for the first time ever a unanimous decision to impose sanctions on the Iranian regime. I think the message of this action is very clear, politically and materially, because as the resolution says, any kind of import and export of equipment, material and technology related to Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile program is prohibited.
Question: The message may very well be clear, but Iran is being clearly very defiant. So how likely is it for them to pay attention and begin the halting of this particular program?
Ali Safavi: I think that the Iranian regime’s defiant posture is expected, because the mullahs have demonstrated in the past that they are not at all interested in suspending their nuclear work despite the repeated calls by the international community. That is why while this resolution offers a first necessary step, it must be followed quickly by a comprehensive oil, arms, technological and diplomatic embargo on Iran because obviously if given any chance to continue with the nuclear program, the mullahs would be able to acquire nuclear weapons program in defiance of the international community’s desire?
Question: Where is the Tehran as far as the nuclear program is concerned? How far is Tehran in their enrichment program?
Ali Safavi: Since August 2002, when the National Council of Resistance of Iran revealed Iran’s nuclear weapons program, the Iranian regime took maximum advantage of four years of negotiations with the European Union troika and of course managed to complete many parts of it unfinished nuclear program, both in Natanz, where they have the enrichment facilities, the centrifuges and in Arak, where there is a heavy water reactor being built. Nevertheless, the decision today by the Security Council is very important. Although I would have to say that in order to meet the increasing threats posed by the Iranian regime not only with respect to its nuclear weapons program, but also its meddling in Iraq and its bellicose attitude to the rest of the Middle East, including in Lebanon, the ultimate solution is democratic change by the Iranian people and their organized resistance movement.
Question: That probably would be a bit of a journey before that is actually likely to happen. How likely is it that the threats by the UN are followed by action?
Ali Safavi: Quite frankly, I think given that the resolution was adopted unanimously, the international community, after a long while and after repeated warning by the Iranian resistance that negotiations would not bear any fruit, has come to the conclusion that the only way one can deal with this regime is through adopting a firm posture. And in my mind, because the mullahs will remain defiant, because they will flout their international obligations, the Security Council would have no choice but to move forward and move toward adopting a more decisive resolution to halt the Iranian regime’s nuclear drive.
Question: But is that not the issue. Because as some might say, that is always the allegation against the UN that it is not decisive enough and yes it has a unanimous decision about a threat, but it is the action they choose to take, having made the threat, especially when that threat is being met by pure defiance.
Ali Safavi: That is correct. This is why we say now that this step has been taken, although there was no question that there were some countries in the Security Council which wanted to prevent the adoption of the resolution altogether, nevertheless, the Security Council I believe would have to monitor the situation vigilantly and take the next logical step, which should be to impose harsher measures to deny them the resources, the technology and the revenues to pursue their nuclear weapons program. But remember that Iran’s nuclear weapons program and their defiance is only one part of the problem, one part of the threat they pose. The situation Iraq and in the rest of the Middle East are also serious problems. The Iranian problem cannot be dealt with in a piece-meal fashion. That is why the National Council of Resistance and particularly its President-elect Maryam Rajavi today called on the United Nations to follow up this resolution with a more comprehensive one shortly.
