Helga Kalm, a junior research fellow with the International Centre for Defence and Security, says Iran has kept its end of the interim agreement on its nuclear programme, and that there is no reason to be overly afraid that Iran will deceive its partners in the current talks.
Helga Kalm, a junior research fellow with the International Centre for Defence and Security, says Iran has kept its end of the interim agreement on its nuclear programme, and that there is no reason to be overly afraid that Iran will deceive its partners in the current talks.
Kalm told the Estonian Public Broadcasting radio programme “Uudis+” that progress has been made in the last few weeks in preparations for a nuclear deal with Iran, but it is hard to say how much. She said a number of observers have indicated things are heading in a positive direction, but she said there is still a 50-50 chance and nothing can ever be totally certain.
Kalm said Israel is afraid of a nuclear deal because Iran has deceived the West in the past at nuclear talks. Yet Kalm says there’s no cause to accuse Iran without reason. “In the current case, Iran has shown good behaviour, if you will. Since the 2013 deal, it has dialled down its reactors and honoured all of the agreements. In this case, the country has shown goodwill. Nothing can be ruled out, but there’s certainly no reason to fear that Iran will start being dishonest,” the expert said.
Israel has two reasons to fear a deal with Iran, said Kalm.
“One is that Iran is the main supporter of Hezbollah, with whom Israel has had many conflicts. Nuclear weapons in the region frighten Israel. If there’s a nuclear weapon in the region, they see themselves as the first victim,” said Kalm.
“The other thing is that if Iran gets nuclear weapons, a number of other Middle Eastern countries have said they have insisted on being nuclear powers, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The danger here is that various Sunni and Shiite countries get nuclear weapons, at some point the bomb could in the course of some uprising wind up in less secure hands. This is the most insecure region in the world with nuclear weapons potential,” she added.
Read more: ERR (in Estonian)