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Published: march 12, 2010; Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center.

Different voices on nuclear issue: top reformist intellectual warns that Iran must not reject West’s nuclear proposal.

Professor Sadegh Zibakalam, one of Iran’s top reformist intellectuals, called on the Iranian leadership this week to accept the West’s proposal regarding the transfer of enriched uranium abroad in exchange for nuclear fuel, warning against the consequences of rejecting the proposal.

Professor Sadegh Zibakalam

In an interview granted by Zibakalam to the Fararo news website, the senior political commentator said that the proposal was a good one, acknowledging Iran’s right to enrich uranium, and that by accepting it Iran could pull the rug from under the Americans, who seek to obtain the support of the international community against it. Zibakalam compared the nuclear program with the nationalization of petroleum by PM Mohammad Mossadegh in the early 50s, saying that Iranian leaders must learn the historical lesson from Iran’s refusal to accept the compromise proposals regarding the nationalization of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC).

Speaking at a convention on petroleum and Iranian foreign policy held this week on behalf of the Expediency Discernment Council, Zibakalam said that had Iran accepted the proposal made in the early 50s by the US and the World Bank to resolve the petroleum crisis, the objectives of petroleum nationalization could have been achieved with American support and without the severe political and economic consequences caused by the nationalization.

Referring to the nuclear issue, Zibakalam said that Iran had good proposals available to it to resolve that issue as well, which may help it create trust and achieve its national interests without paying a heavy price. He said that accepting the proposal would allow Iran to pull the rug from under the US over Iran’s so-called refusal to cooperate with the international community, and to derail the American efforts to gather international support for its anti-Iranian views (Fararo, March 5).

Considered one of the top reformist intellectuals in Iran, Prof. Sadegh Zibakalam is a lecturer on political science in Tehran University and a senior political commentator. In recent years, Zibakalam has strongly criticized the regime’s policy, including the foreign and nuclear policy of the Iranian leadership. In May 2009, Zibakalam sparked a public outcry when Iranian TV aired a panel in which he took part, which dealt with the US foreign policy 100 days into Barack Obama’s presidency. During the panel, Zibakalam claimed, among other things, that the Iranian leadership was unwilling to acknowledge the tremendous change in US foreign policy since Obama’s election for president, since it was locked into radical, non-compromising ideological notions.

It should be noted that it is not the first time that intellectuals and individual political activist affiliated with the reformist camp voice criticism on the nuclear policy of the Iranian leadership. For example, physicist and former Majles member Ahmad Shirzad had criticized the Iranian nuclear program, going as far as to say that it was not economically justified.

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