Iran crisis needs new approach

In 2012, multiple talks between Iran and the P5+1 - Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany - over Teheran's nuclear program were held, but they failed to bear fruit and the US and other Western countries enhanced the intensity and scope of sanctions against Iran.

However, the US also acknowledged that, so far, "Iran is not yet committed to building a nuclear arsenal, only to creating the industrial and scientific capacity to allow one if its leaders to decide to take that final step."

Defense secretary Leon Panetta said on CBS's Face the Nation last year that Iran is laying the groundwork for making nuclear weapons someday, but is not yet building a bomb and called for continued diplomatic and economic pressure to persuade Teheran not to take that step. Therefore, all the sanctions have been imposed out of fear that Iran will take that final step and build a nuclear arsenal.

However, the crux of the issue is the ideological conflict and the hostility between Iran and the US-led Western countries.

The new round of nuclear talks will start on Feb 26 in Kazakhstan. The US and Western countries want to continue to exert pressure and strengthen sanctions to try and force Iran to compromise and yield to their will or else induce internal change in Iran to subvert the Teheran government. But Iran insists on its rights to peaceful development and the use of nuclear energy.

"The Iranian nation will stand firm to safeguard their nuclear rights and regards negotiations within the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the International Atomic Energy Agency regulations as acceptable," Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said in a speech during an open session of the Majlis.

So it can be predicted that it will be difficult for the upcoming talks on the Iranian nuclear issue to make any breakthrough or substantial progress because of the huge difference that exists between the stances of the two sides.

Iran is a country with an ancient civilization and it is the nation's long-cherished wish to restore its former glory. But in the face of the containment and pressure imposed by the US and other Western countries, Iran is seeking to accelerate the development of its military strength, which it believes is necessary for self-preservation. In recent years, Iran has not only developed unmanned aircraft and missiles it has also launched satellites (and a live monkey) into space. The development of its nuclear capacity is also regarded as important for its revitalization.

Iran's strategy is to emulate the "Japanese model". There are some nuclear-capable countries that are at a "critical point", and Japan is one of them.