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Iran Talks Not Viable Model for N. Korea Crisis

Iran Talks Not Viable Model for N. Korea Crisis
Iran Talks Not Viable Model for N. Korea Crisis

A lawmaker dismissed a recent suggestion by German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the model of Iran nuclear talks could be applied to the North Korea crisis, noting that the Islamic Republic holds a far higher diplomatic stature.

"It is a source of joy that the community of top international politicians has welcomed JCPOA as a precedent and model, but it cannot be applied to the North Korea case," Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh said in an interview with ICANA on Monday.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is the official name of the 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six major powers, namely the US, Britain, France, Russia and China plus Germany.

Falahatpisheh noted that North Korea falls way short of the Islamic Republic's diplomatic clout.

"The North Korean political system lacks full autonomy and basically serves as a puppet of the emerging eastern powers and Europe. Russia and China have always used North Korea to seek concessions from the United States," he said.

  Sole Leverage

The parliamentarian noted that nuclear bomb technology is the sole leverage Pyongyang enjoys against western powers.

"While North Korea is in possession of nuclear bombs and is using them as a threat, it lacks the Islamic Republic of Iran's diplomatic power that stems from its population size, international sway and strategic depth," he said.

Merkel has said she would be prepared to become involved in a diplomatic initiative to end the North Korean nuclear and missile programs, and suggested that negotiations held to reach the Iran nuclear deal could be a model.

South Korea has braced for a possible further missile test by North Korea as it marks its founding anniversary, just days after its sixth and largest nuclear test rattled global financial markets and escalated tensions in the region.

"If our participation in talks is desired, I will immediately say yes," Merkel told Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung in a recent interview, Reuters reported.

She pointed to the talks that led to the landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers in 2015.

Back then, Germany and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council took part in talks that led to Iran agreeing to curb its nuclear work, which it says has always been for peaceful applications, in return for sanctions relief.

The German leader said that was "a long but important time of diplomacy" that ultimately had a "good end" last year, referring to when the deal was implemented.

"I could imagine such a format being used to end the North Korea conflict. Europe and especially Germany should be prepared to play a very active part in that," she added.

Merkel said she thought the only way to deal with North Korea's nuclear program was to come to a diplomatic solution.

"A new arms race starting in the region would not be in anyone's interests," she said.

 

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