US-Iran Talks Not Happening Due to Lack of 'Interlocutor' - Ex-Indian Diplomat

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Despite Iran’s blunt rejection of talks with the Trump administration following the re-imposition of US sanctions on the already troubled economy, a former Indian diplomat has said the only reason why a dialogue between the two sides has not materialized is the absence of a mediator.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — Anil Trigunayat, former Indian ambassador to Jordan, Libya, and Malta has opined that Iran is probably waiting for a third party to mediate as they do not trust the Americans.

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"The immediate impact will be further discontent in the country as the rial has lost almost 80 percent of its value. President Rouhani is trying to keep the flock together in difficult times. Apart from this, there is a possibility of talks as President Rouhani has said that he is willing to talk, but added they don't trust the Americans. But they are probably thinking that they (US) will apply the same model as they have applied to North Korea. But here we don't find a real interlocutor between the US and Iran and that is the reason that things are not happening today. I would not discount the possibility that sooner or later there might be some talks," former Indian diplomat Anil Trigunayat told Sputnik. 

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Trigunayat, is of the opinion that US President Donald Trump's rhetoric will over time become much stronger, but the possibility of negotiations cannot be discounted.

"This rhetoric will continue and there its pitch will only increase with time as these sanctions will come into effect. But at the same time we have to see how Europeans, the Chinese and the Russians are really going to give practical shape to deflect the impact of the US sanctions," he added.

Trigunayat opined that the very fact that the sanctions have been imposed by the US,despite many allies opposing the move, points to the fact that it has been enforced with the sole intent of bringing Iran to the negotiating table.

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"Iran has lived through the sanctions for decades and this time there are not many takers for US sanctions on Iran. The EU is not on board, the French, German and the British have issued statements countering this. China is going ahead, even India has taken quite a bit of oil from Iran. So I don't see that there are many takers. These are the indicators and I think this is just to bring Iranian to the table," the former Indian diplomat said.

The views and opinions expressed by Anil Trigunayat in this article are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the position of Sputnik.

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