Iranian President Sees Little Progress on Nuclear Dispute

By RICK GLADSTONE

President Hassan Rouhani of Iran heading to the podium on Thursday to address the United Nations General Assembly. Credit Mike Segar/Reuters 

With a blunt demeanor that bordered on pessimism, President Hassan Rouhani of Iran said Friday that he was unhappy over the lack of progress in resolving his country’s protracted nuclear dispute with the major powers, less than two months before their self-imposed deadline for reaching a comprehensive agreement.

“The progress realized thus far has not been significant,” Mr. Rouhani said at a news conference concluding his five-day visit to the United Nations General Assembly annual meeting, his second as president. He said any movement toward an agreement had been “extremely slow.”

Mr. Rouhani also questioned the motives of the United States and its allies over what he described as their newfound concern with the Islamic State, the extremist group roiling Syria and Iraq. He expressed deep skepticism that “a few aerial bombardments” like those undertaken by an American-led coalition could eradicate the Islamic State and its affiliates. He repeatedly emphasized what he described as Iran’s early warnings about the circumstances that had given rise to such groups, and reminded the audience of Iranian and foreign journalists that Iran had been the first to help Iraq in its plea for assistance when Islamic State fighters overran northern Iraqi cities in June.

“Never has the Middle East been as endangered by instability and violence as it is today,” Mr. Rouhani said. He attributed the turmoil to the “savage and barbaric terrorists” who have been financed and armed by outside powers, a euphemistic reference to the Arab and Western states that he said had fostered the insurgency in Syria, Iran’s ally, now in its fourth year. Mr. Rouhani declined to specify whether he could ever envision a collaboration with the West as part of a unified effort to combat the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.d tone of Mr. Rouhani’s remarks were a contrast to the optimism and confidence he espoused a year ago, fresh from his inauguration as president, that Iran would overcome its isolation, reach a nuclear agreement and thrive in a new era, free from the Western-led economic sanctions that have weighed heavily on the country for years.

While the conclusion of his 2013 visit was punctuated by a telephone call from President Obama — the first direct contact between a top Iranian leader and an American president in more than three decades — there was no such outreach this year, and Mr. Rouhani made clear that none had been offered or expected.

“Is it written as a rule somewhere that two presidents must always communicate telephonically?” Mr. Rouhani said in response to a question. Although both leaders were in New York for three overlapping days, there had been no plans, he said, “for a conversation or a meeting.”

American officials have also been privately signaling that progress toward a nuclear accord with Iran has been painfully slow, suggesting that both sides remain far apart on the underlying basic issues, most notably Iran’s capacity to enrich nuclear fuel. Mr. Obama barely mentioned the nuclear issue in his General Assembly speech on Wednesday — another sign his administration was not optimistic.

Under a temporary accord that took effect in January, Iran and the so-called P5-plus-1 countries gave themselves six months to reach a permanent agreement, then in July agreed to extend the negotiation to Nov. 24. The P5-plus-1 include the five permanent members of the Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — plus Germany. While there is some hope that real progress may come only in the final few weeks, Mr. Rouhani’s public expression of dissatisfaction suggested he was laying the groundwork at home for disappointment.

He was not completely negative. “Serious will does exist,” he said. But Mr. Rouhani was also insistent on two core demands: Iran’s right to enrich uranium, in quantities based on what he described as its civilian needs, and an end to the series of Western and Security Council sanctions on the country. “The sanctions must be melted away and deactivated,” Mr. Rouhani said.

The biggest problem in the estranged relationship with the United States, Mr. Rouhani said, was a lack of trust. “This trust must be restored,” he said.

In one optimistic note, Mr. Rouhani said it was “not written in stone” that relations between Iran and the United States need always be shaped by confrontation and conflict. “One day this will change,” he said.