|
 He's in a position to know because he has held sensitive
positions as a member of Iran's National Security Council and as
a senior nuclear negotiator when President Hassan Rouhani served
as the chief negotiator. Although Rouhani's stance was regarded
as pragmatic, the nuclear talks broke down in 2005.
Mousavian studied in the United States before Iran's Islamic
revolution in 1979, the year when Iranian students took 52
Americans hostage at the U.S. embassy in Tehran.
He says his book, "Iran and the United States: An Insider's View
on the Failed Past and the Road to Peace", aims to explain the
differences he sees as pre-dating their capture.
"The hostage crisis marks the Big Bang ostensibly as the
beginning of the hostile relationship between the Islamic
Republic of Iran and the United States," Mousavian told Reuters.
"Many of today's points of contention ... either did not exist
or were insignificant at that time. There was no competition
over hegemony in the region between the two countries, cultural
differences had not emerged, the issue of Israel was a
non-factor and there was no dispute over Iran's nuclear
program."
Mousavian says his book looks back to illustrate "how flawed
analysis on both sides has created a cycle of mistrust that has
not been addressed -- let alone broken -- to this date.
"In fact, it has intensified as a result of coercive policies on
the part of the United States," he said.
As an example of how the United States and Iran seem to pass
like ships in the night, his book notes that Iran worked with
the United States in 2001 to fight against the Taliban, toppled
by a U.S.-led military campaign after al Qaeda's September 11
attacks on U.S. cities. But George W. Bush's "axis of evil"
rhetoric squelched any hopes of a rapprochement with Iran.
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"The current state of Iran-U.S. relations is shaky and
unsustainable," he told Reuters. "The two are locked in a conflict
spiral which, if not addressed, could end in a destructive war."
Mousavian became a scapegoat for hardline former president Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad. A Tehran court acquitted him of treason charges, but he
was banned from holding a diplomatic position for five years. Since
2009, he has been teaching at Princeton University.
Q: What motivated you to write this book?
A: Primarily to present a fresh and untold view from Tehran
... in hopes of better understanding the root causes ... and
eventually bringing the Iran-U.S. conflict to an end.
Q: What makes your book different from others about this
subject?
A: Almost all information available on Iran-U.S. relations is
based on information first told, heard and echoed in the West.
Q: What is your proposed roadmap to peace?
A: The United States should first decide their end goal. If
the end goal is to make peace with Iran, then this book offers a
feasible, comprehensive, phase-by-phase process ... The road to
peace is certainly a bumpy one, but ... even factors such as
Iran-Israel hostilities are not insurmountable hurdles for a
comprehensive deal between Iran and the United States.
(Editing by Michael Roddy and Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
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