Iranian expert calls for direct talks between Iran-US, rejects shuttle diplomacy

Hassan Beheshtipour, in an exclusive interview with Entekhab news outlet, said the shuttle diplomacy involving EU Foreign Policy Chief Josef Borrell and other officials of the bloc is time-consuming and it’s unclear when that diplomacy pays off.

He added that chances are high that the talks will resume but “we must wait and see the results of an initiative put forth by Borrell several months ago.”

According to Beheshtipour, Borrell had proposed that Iran and the US agree on a middle ground, namely the removal of sanctions on Iran’s Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps (IRGC) with the exception of the IRGC’s Quds Force.

He noted that Iran had put forth its own initiative. Beheshtipour said as per the proposal, the US must only remove sanctions on Khatamolanbia Headquarters, which is affiliated with the IRGC but engaged in economic activities.

He noted that Borrell has finalized this initiative with Robert Malley, US Special Envoy for Iran.

“The Americans definitely have some viewpoints about Iran’s initiative, so we need to wait and see what the outcome of Borrell’s visit will be”, Beheshtipour added.

The foreign policy analyst also said it’s likely that the US intends to make a new proposal. He maintained that analytically speaking, there are two possibilities in this regard.

One is, Beheshtipour said, that the other side has accepted Iran’s initiative but has a complementary proposal and Borrell came to Tehran to notify Iran of that.

He added that the other possibility is that the US has made a brand new proposal.

Beheshtipour said unfortunately, this shuttle diplomacy is dragging on.