LONDON, July 23 (IranMania) - Ten years after a dialogue was launched between the European Union and the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1995, the relationship between the two sides is about to enter a crucial and decisive phase.
The 25-member European bloc is expected to present its offer of a "global package" to the new government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sometime in August to resolve the nuclear standoff, according to IRNA.
No details have been revealed about the "global package" which EU diplomats maintain will be "very generous and important".
The package is under preparation by the EU-3 -Germany, France and the UK - together with EU foreign Policy chief
Javier Solana.
The three EU states are spearheading negotiations with Iran on its nuclear programme on behalf of the EU.
The package is expected to contain nuclear, economic, trade, technology and security incentives to Iran in exchange for "objective guarantees" from Tehran that its nuclear programme is meant for civilian use only.
In the EU jargon, "objective guarantees" is the codeword implying that Iran has to put a total stop to its nuclear
enrichment programme, not just to suspend it.
For Brussels a diplomatic breakthrough with Tehran is of utmost significance. The EU is currently in deep crisis following the rejection of the European Constitution by France and the Netherlands and the failure to resolve differences over the EU budget for the period 2007-2013.
The political turmoil has dealt a severe blow to the EU's global image and hence a success on Iran's nuclear programme would repair some of the damage and enhance the role of the EU as an important player on the world stage.
Moreover, Europeans are in dire need to prove to the Americans that their policy of engagement and dialogue in the end is the right way to resolve international issues instead of the use of force, sanctions and boycotts.
For the new Islamic government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the nuclear issue will be his first important foreign policy challenge.
Iran's unwavering position is that nuclear technology for civilian purpose is its legal right enshrined in the charter of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to which Tehran is a signatory and that it will not give up this birthright.
Although the US administration of President Bush has expressed its support for the EU-Iran nuclear talks, hawks in Washington want the EU-Iran negotiations to fail so that Iran's nuclear dossier is sent to the UN Security Council for eventual sanctions to be imposed on the Islamic Republic.
Developments in the last four years show that both sides are determined to cement their economic and political ties, in the wake of the reformist agenda pursued by the administration of President Mohammad Khatami.
However, President Khatami visited several European states during his eight-year tenure but could not pay a visit to the EU headquarters in Brussels.
The turning point in EU-Iran ties was set by the visit of Kamal Kharrazi to Brussels in September 2001, the first by an Iranian foreign minister.
Since then top EU and Iranian officials have been exchanging visits in a flurry of diplomacy, trying to promote closer ties and coordinate positions on issues of common interests.
On 19 November 2001, the European Commission approved a proposal to begin negotiations on a trade and cooperation agreement with Iran alongside a political dialogue that included issues like human rights, fight against terrorism, non-proliferation and the Palestinian conflict.
On June 17, 2002, the EU Council of Ministers gave the Commission the mandate to begin the negotiations and the ground breaking talks began in December 2002.
Setting the mood of rapprochement, a European Parliament delegation paid a first-ever visit to the Islamic Republic in the summer of 2002 and Kamal Kharrazi became the first
foreign minister of the Islamic Republic to address the EP in Brussels in February 2003.
However, the TCA negotiations were suspended in 2003 after four rounds due to the nuclear standoff. They were resumed following the EU-Iran agreement in Paris in November 2004.
Seven rounds of the TCA negotiations have been held so far and another round is expected to take place soon.
The last summit of EU leaders in Brussels in June expressed the desire to strengthen Europe's political and economic ties with Iran once the nuclear issue is resolved.
The EU is formed of 25 independent states with their own political agenda. Hence Iran's foreign policy has to focus on two fronts, one to strengthen ties with the individual member states and secondly to develop cooperation and relations with the EU institutions like the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament.
The European Union regards Iran's economic potential and its geo-strategic position as too important to be ignored.
Moreover, the market vacuum left by the United States after it shot itself in the foot by disallowing American companies to invest in the Islamic Republic of Iran has offered European companies a golden opportunity to do business in Iran.
In significant moves to soothe Tehran, the EU in May 2002 declared the Iranian Mujahideen Khalq Organization (MKO) a terrorist group and has not tabled in the UN a resolution criticizing the human rights situation in Iran in order to give the EU-Iran human rights dialogue a chance.
Brussels and Tehran continue to differ on issues such as human rights (death sentence, women's rights) and the Palestine conflict.
It is incumbent for the EU-Iran rapprochement to succeed that both sides should not look for tangible results overnight but focus on a long-term and step-by-step approach. |
