presstv.ir
November 4, 2013
Washington’s approach to nuclear negotiations with Iran is aimed at “neutralizing” the Islamic Republic as an opponent in the Middle East and keeping “US hegemony in dominance,” an analyst says.
“The goal is not to establish a peaceful mutually respectful relationship between Iran and the United States. The goal is to neutralize Iran as a political, military [and] diplomatic opponent in the Middle East and to allow US hegemony in dominance,” Phil Wilayto, editor of Virginia Defender Newspaper, told Press TV on Sunday.
Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – Britain, China, France, Russia and the US – plus Germany held two days of negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear energy program in Geneva, Switzerland, on October 15-16. The two sides have agreed to meet again in the Swiss city on November 7-8.
Wilayto said the Obama administration is “looking for some sort of diplomatic solution that would allow them to maintain their dominance but yet not commit them to a war or unnecessary military buildups” because “the United States is not in a position to take on a new conflict.”
While there are some tactical differences between the Obama administration and Congress regarding Iran, Wilayto said, “there is no real division” between the two over “the most fundamental question which is that the United States needs to, as much as possible, control the Middle East because it contains two thirds of the world’s known oil resources.”
Some members of Congress have been pushing for more sanctions against Iran, but the White House wants to see the outcome of the ongoing nuclear talks before signing off on more sanctions.
In a closed-door briefing last week, senior White House officials, including Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry, urged the senators to hold off on a new package of sanctions on Tehran.
“There are some people in Congress who just do what they do because they get paid for it by lobbying groups,” Wilayto said.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the most powerful Israeli lobby in the US, has recently sent a memo to members of Congress, insisting that Iran does not have the right to enrich uranium.
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