IRGC Mouthpiece Implicitly Demands Revision of Iran’s Nuclear Doctrine

During a May 7 visit to Iran, Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, offered an open invitation to Iran to strike a deal on a package of measures ending the impasse between Iran and the United Nations nuclear watchdog. However, the offer was interpreted as a sign of weakness by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps mouthpiece Mashregh News, which implicitly called for a revision of Iran’s nuclear doctrine to further boost its negotiating position.

• May 11: Linking Grossi’s statements to Iran’s April 13 attack against Israel, “Operation True Promise,” Mashregh News‘ anonymous commentator wrote:
  • “In the wake of Operation True Promise, the United States and the European Union troika faced a dilemma … Their first option was to transfer the Iran file to the United Nations Security Council, issue a new resolution against Iran in the IAEA Board of Governors, and insist that the cases against Iran are still not closed,” referencing disputes over Iran’s nuclear activities and transparency to the IAEA. However, this option, Mashregh argued, “would result in Iran leaving the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and accelerate Iran’s” enrichment of uranium from 60% purity to 90%. “Their second option was to replace or amend the dead Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action … with the sunset clause removed,” which would be unacceptable to Iran, according to Mashregh.
  • The article concluded: “Today, it is Iran that has the initiative in formulating preconditions or even modalities of any kind of agreement or understanding. This initiative may get a new meaning should Iran change its nuclear doctrine.”

The views represented herein are the author's or speaker's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of AGSI, its staff, or its board of directors.