Direct Iran-US Talks, No Longer A Taboo: Iran Daily

Tehran, Oct 12, IRNA - Considering that many believe US is the P5+1 leader and that the nuclear issue can only be resolved if Tehran and Washington bury the hatchet and reach a settlement, there shouldn't be a hue and cry over a possible Rouhani-Obama meeting, underscored 'Iran Daily' on Sunday. A government which valiantly shattered such a taboo perfectly knows when and how such a meeting should take place in order to derive the maximum benefit from it, added the English-language paper in its Opinion column. Direct Iran-US talks are no longer a taboo which was broken by the incumbent government and is now regarded as a big achievement. Holding face to face talks was initiated by the government of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad which lacked the courage of making it public, pointed out the daily. The government itself blew the lid off the secret talks during the last two years of Ahmadinejad's tenure in September prior to President Hassan Rouhani’s trip to New York to attend the annual UN General Assembly session. The government announced that Iran and the US engaged in direct talks in an Arab country, most probably Oman. Now those who held secret talks with the US cannot stomach such a great achievement. Talks between both sides gained momentum when Rouhani spoke with US President Barack Obama last year on the sidelines of the UNGA gathering and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif held several meetings with his American counterpart John Kerry. The previous government, run by the Conservatives, did its best to hold talks with the US and did so but kept denying it and in fact preferred to keep the public in the dark. Ahmadinejad, on various occasions, signaled his willingness to meet his American counterpart and even wrote to US president George W Bush and his successor Obama but both of his letters went unanswered and their contents were never made public. Such moves never drew angry reactions from conservative MPs and radicals, pointed out the paper. In light of the above, holding talks was an inevitable compromise made by both sides in order to settle their disagreements at least over Iran’s nuclear energy program and it did work, the paper wrote in conclusion./end