Iranian political scientist, Zibakalam urges direct Tehran-Washington talks

Sadegh Zibakalam, who is a retired professor of political sciences at Tehran University, said, “Due to the differences of opinion between the US and Israel, Iran can directly enter into negotiations with the US once again, in order to use the tools of diplomacy instead of ideology and turn the tide in its own favor.”

The comments come as the world is on the edge, watching the confrontation between Iran and Israel after Tel Aviv launched a deadly strike on the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus earlier this month, which provoked retaliation from Iran on Sunday.

Zibakalam also warned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to keep the region in crisis to divert the public opinion from the Israeli regime’s poor performance – cited by polls – following the October 7 operation by the Palestinian resistance movements inside Israel.

The senior analyst noted, “However, the situation for US President Joe Biden is different. He does not want either the US or Israel to have a military confrontation with Iran.”

“The US knows that if Israel strikes Iran, the story will not end there. Iran will respond and the conflict will escalate, and the US military bases in the region will definitely be targeted by Iran, and the fire will be ignited that cannot be easily put out,” he added.

Zibakalam advised Iranian officials to use the rift created between the US and Israel in its own favor, and for once stop using foreign policy as a means of advancing “the ideology of anti-Westernism and revolutionism.”