Six world powers see a chance that Iran’s relatively moderate new president, beset by sanctions and worried about unrest in the region trickling home, may be more amenable to compromise in a long-standing nuclear dispute, a senior Western diplomat said.
The powers - Russia, China, France, Britain, Germany and the United States - are hoping years of economic pressure will finally force Iran to scale back its nuclear work, which they suspect aims at allowing Tehran to make bombs.
President-elect Hassan Rouhani won the June 14 election largely on a promise of repairing the economy, and will be under pressure in the coming months to deliver, the diplomat said.
He would be mindful that without progress and at least some relief from sanctions, which would require the scaling back of Iran’s nuclear work, his public support could quickly wane.
“Rouhani’s election could provide an opportunity and we are expecting to see a change in tone,” the diplomat said, who spoke on condition of anonymity but has close knowledge of the issue.
The comments follow a meeting of senior officials from the six nations in Brussels this week, convened to devise a strategy for the future of nuclear diplomacy after the Iranian election.