Opportunities, challenges of Pezeshkian visit to NY

President Masoud Pezeshkian left Tehran for New York Sunday morning at the head of a diplomatic delegation to attend and give a speech at the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly.

The presence of Iranian presidents in UN meetings has always been one of the most important topics in the last weeks of September. With all its dimensions, this trip has received the attention of many local and foreign media due to current challenges between Iran and some Western countries.

Pezeshkian is the seventh Iranian president traveling to New York to attend the largest gathering of world officials at the United Nations General Assembly meeting. Each of the Iranian presidents faced a challenge or a range of challenges every time they attended this meeting. Iran's 14th president will not be an exception to this rule.

Pezeshkiam will set foot on US soil while Iran's relations with the West, especially the US are still one of Iran's main challenges in the field of foreign policy. However, in the last two years, these relations have faced a level of complexity that it is not easy to predict the trends.

The relations between Iran and the West are currently facing three intertwined mega-issues which include the war in Ukraine, the war in Gaza, and the case of sanctions lifting negotiations.

Russia's military attack on Ukraine and its continuation has messed up many equations in different parts of the world. Europe and the United States, who first placed Zelensky against Putin with the promise of Kyiv's joining NATO are now looking for the blame for the crisis and the failure of the West's united front against Russia as the war drags on.

In the meantime, the military relations between Iran and Russia have become a source of excuse for Europe to make political use of this self-made lie by stating the claim that Tehran has sent drones and ballistic missiles to Russia. In such a situation, Europe's relations with Iran have turned to the coldest possible state, and it seems that this coldness will not disappear as long as the defeats of the Western United Front against Russia continue.

Although Iran has stated many times that it has not and will not be involved in the war in Ukraine, the reality of relations between Iran and Europe at this point has been affected by the war in Ukraine and its consequences.

Despite the unfavorable conditions governing relations between Iran and Europe, Iran's president's meeting with European officials during his trip to New York can be effective in creating an understanding that Iran is currently willing to play a role in the Ukraine crisis.

The war in Gaza is another heavy shadow that dominates the very complex relations between Iran and the West, especially the negotiations that were held indirectly between Tehran and Washington regarding lifting sanctions.

 Since October 7 last year, the US main strategic ally has been caught in an unprecedented security trap that has seriously threatened its existence. On the other hand, the Zionist regime, with the direct support of the United States, has killed more than 40,000 defenseless Muslims and threatened Iran's strategic ally in the region, Hezbollah of Lebanon, and finally martyred its important Iran guest Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and wounded Iran ambassador in Beirut.

The continuation of this crisis, which Iran considers the United States to be the main cause of its occurrence and continuation, and Washington considers Tehran to be the main player in this arena has made the complicated path of indirect talks between Iran and the United States on the issue of lifting sanctions to face with serious and unprecedented obstacles more than ever before.

In such a situation, even if the talks that were followed indirectly between the two countries in Muscat are activated again and the media make headlines about the existence of exchanged signals, acceptable progress can not be expexted.

The Zionist regime has failed many scenarios of peace in the region and the world for years, and now one year of killing the defenseless people of Gaza has become a deadlock in many equations governing the world. In the meantime, behind its pacifist gestures, the United States has a difficult task ahead of it while its ally is not directly following international laws and human rights.

The third challenge facing Iran's relations with the West is the sanctions-lifting negotiations which is somehow tied to the case of Iran's relations with the International Atomic Energy Agency. It is very clear that now and for various reasons, this case is not among the priorities of the West in the field of relations with Iran as important challenges such as the war in Gaza and the war in Ukraine have become the main security concerns of the United States and Europe and it has given its place to the file of nuclear negotiations which once had a vital value for the West.

Iran's relations with the International Atomic Energy Agency which the West is trying to use as a tool to exert political pressure on our country have practically become stagnant under the influence of Iran's cold relations with the West and despite Iran's close cooperation with the Agency, it has stopped behind the political barrier created by the United States and Europe.

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi has recently expressed his concern about the details of Iran's nuclear program, saying that Tehran had implemented the provisions of the agreement until 2018 and the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the JCPOA despite the non-commitment of the US and Europe.

Iran has repeatedly emphasized the peacefulness of its nuclear program and had the most extensive cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and this fact has been confirmed in numerous reports of the Agency.

Regarding the issues that the Agency refers to as open cases between Iran and this organization, it is up to the Agency to follow the Iran case from a non-political point of view and based on technical and legal facts. Although the three issues that cast a shadow on the relations between Iran and the West have their complexities, it is not impossible to reach a platform that can put both sides in a situation of managing tensions. 

According to a customary tradition, the presidents of Iran have always carried a specific idea and message in their speeches at the UN General Assembly, according to the existing domestic and foreign conditions. Consequently, the first appearance of Pezeshkian in New York and his first speech as the President of Iran will attract countless audiences from all over the world. Although the main focus of Iran's president's speech at the United Nations General Assembly is not yet clear, it seems that the main focus would be tolerance while having authority.

Since the very beginning of his activity, Pezeshkian has tried to make it clear to warmongers both inside and outside the country that no achievements would be reached by fighting. If this simple concept is interpreted according to Iran's diplomacy strategy, it can provide national interests and the authority of Iran in the world while reducing external pressures.

Ending Europe's claims about sending missiles and drones from Iran to Russia in the Ukraine war, encouraging the international community to prevent the ongoing tragedies in Gaza and confronting the adventures of the Zionist regime in the region, and finally ruling a technical view instead of a political approach towards Iran's nuclear case are the three goals that can make the conditions acceptable for Iran both inside and outside.

Certainly, the time and place for the realization of the mentioned approaches will not be in New York on September 22 and 23, but the presence in New York and taking advantage of the opportunities of this limited visit of the president can be considered as a beginning of realization of these goals, provided that the West in the real world seeks to reduce tension with Iran as it emphasizes in political speeches.

The totality of existing challenges and facts show that the President's visit to New York and his attendance at the United Nations General Assembly is a ground for explaining the necessity of untangling the relationship between Iran and the West.