As US and Iran make progress, more is expected

US Secretary of State John Kerry talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verified that Iran has met all conditions under the nuclear deal in Vienna on Jan 16. KEVIN LAMARQUE / REUTERS

A lot happened over the weekend regarding Iran.

On Jan 16, the US and European nations lifted the economic sanctions imposed on Iran’s nuclear program in return for Teheran’s compliance with the nuclear deal it inked six months ago with the so-called P5+1, namely the US, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany.

At the same time, in an issue not directly related, Iran released five US prisoners while the US dropped its cases against seven Iranians, six of whom are dual Iran-US citizens, charged or imprisoned for violating nuclear sanctions. The US also dropped its pursuit against 14 Iranians outside the US.

“This is a good day, because, once again, we’re seeing what’s possible with strong American diplomacy,” US President Barack Obama said on Sunday.

He also admitted a prolonged misstep in US foreign policy by saying that “for decades, our differences with Iran meant that our governments almost never spoke to each other. Ultimately, that did not advance America’s interests.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi applauded what is known as Implementation Day of the Iranian nuclear deal as “worth celebrating” for the Iranian people and having a “demonstrative effect” while the international nuclear non-proliferation regime is facing a test, Wang told Xinhua News Agency in a written interview on Sunday. Wang called the Implementation Day a solid step on the way to the final political and diplomatic settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue.

According to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) reached last July, all of the nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran will be removed if the country is proved to have abided by the deal over the next 10 years step by step.

Wang said that in the coming years, all sides should continue to fulfill their commitment based on the principles of equality, fairness and balance, according to the Xinhua report.

While all the P5+1 nations and Iran should take credit for the progress, Obama is also right for the steps taken by his administration, despite vehement criticism on the issue from most Republican presidential candidates in their debate in South Carolina on Jan 14.

Blaming the Iranians for detaining the American sailors for straying accidentally into Iranian waters, the Republicans seem to forget that the most often-seen notice in the US, probably on their own properties, is that “trespassers will be prosecuted”.

Obama, however, did not talk on Sunday about the prospects of restoring diplomatic relations between the US and Iran, after they were severed in 1980 following the hostage crisis in Teheran. It was a mistake similar to the one that Obama finally corrected last year by restoring diplomatic ties with Cuba after a half century.

Obama did not say whether the US will also reach out to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea despite its recent nuclear test that was clearly a violation of the United Nations Security Council resolution.

In his mostly celebratory statement, Obama said that the US is imposing sanctions on Iran’s recent ballistic missile test.

There is no doubt that the US believes economic sanctions, which are often imposed by big and strong nations to smaller and weaker nations, are silver bullets despite historical evidence proving that most economic sanctions have been ineffective.

On the contrary, economic sanctions imposed on poor and smaller nations often resulted in a punishment and suffering not for the leaders of the target country, but their people, including women and children. These sanctions are often inhumane and could be a crime as is the all-round one imposed on Cuba.

China has long been promoting a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue through dialogue and played an important role in the JCPOA agreement.

The US has been deeply engaged in the Middle East for decades in pursuing its geopolitical goals, topping regimes and arming rebels, but such a policy has failed miserably as proved by the low standing of the US in the region, according to this year’s Pew Center survey.

China’s approach has been quite different. On Jan 13, China issued its first Arab policy paper, focusing on win-win cooperation with the region rather than interfering in its domestic affairs.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a five-day visit from Jan 19-23 to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran.

For ordinary Chinese, people in that region have long been our friends, and actually they kind of feel the same as I dined in an Egyptian restaurant in New York City a few years ago. The Egyptian manager invited me onstage to join the belly dancer, saying “Chinese are our brothers.”

Contact the writer at chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com