Indian expert expects positive outcomes out of Iran's JCPOA visits

TEHRAN(Defapress)-In an exclusive interview with IRNA about the outcome of the visits, Debalina Ghoshal referred to the latest visit of the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Austria and Switzerland and said, “Though it is too early to say how these visits would shape up the future events, there is a positive sign in them as it is not Iran alone that wants to save the nuclear deal, but the European countries together with India too see an impressive scope in the Iranian economy.”

“If the European countries want to and are determined to support the Iranian nuclear deal, the United States can hardly fight so many countries. EU has resisted the US sanctions in the past also and I do not see why they cannot do the same now,” added the former member of the Delhi-based think tank “Delhi Policy Group”.

Terming the Iranian nuclear deal as an important element to ensure stability in the Middle-East, she said, “Europe realizes that the deal is very crucial for ensuring stability in the Middle-East as it is now important for Iran to discuss Syria and probably, in some time, even Yemen. People now realize that the nuclear deal is a base for resolving many other problems.”

“Iran is lucky that the US-China trade war reached its peak at the crucial time. I am not sure how much China would want to abide by sanctions when it comes to Iran. Moreover, if the United States does not wish to allow any proliferation related activities between China and Iran, it is only sensible that the deal shall remain in place.”

On India’s possible reaction to the US sanctions on Iran, the seasoned analyst of the international unclear issues said, “As far as India is concerned, it has gone ahead with the S-400 Air Defense Missile System deal with Russia despite Washington’s sanctions on Moscow. So, I am not sure if India would abide by the US sanctions on Iran, especially as Chabahar Port remains crucial for India.'
'But, India would expect equal cooperation from Iran on the port. As long as oil imports are concerned, India is making efforts to ensure that its oil imports from Iran remain intact.”

To a question on how EU, China and India can collectively neutralise the impact of the US sanctions on Iran, Ghoshal said, “It would be difficult to reply to this question. For, the Europeans would probably want to discuss the nuclear deal with the United States again. China, on the other hand, has now agreed to replace Total in Iran on a major oil-gas field project, should the French company back out. I am not sure whether EU would want to lose out on such a lucrative market to China and Russia.”

“As far as India is concerned, its Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj has already clarified that New Delhi would only recognize the United Nations-imposed sanctions and no country specific ones.”

Terming the total collapse of the Iranian nuclear deal as disastrous, she said, “If the Iranian nuclear deal collapses, this would be a dark day in the history of the global non-proliferation regime. That is not something the global order would wish for.”
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