AFP, Paris :
A deal on Iran’s nuclear programme this week would be a historic step towards ending the country’s international isolation, but analysts remain divided on whether it would help stabilise the Middle East or even prevent a regional arms race.
Having spent years pushing for an agreement-whereby economic sanctions on Iran are relaxed in exchange for concrete guarantees that it will not pursue nuclear weapons-the West hopes the last-ditch talks in Vienna set an example to the world.
“It would… demonstrate that the global non-proliferation system works,” said Mark Fitzpatrick, a former US State Department official now at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
“A combination of rules and pressure would have kept the number of nuclear-armed states from expanding, and that’s no small achievement.”
But there are many on the more hawkish side of the debate who feel the exact opposite could happen.
A deal on Iran’s nuclear programme this week would be a historic step towards ending the country’s international isolation, but analysts remain divided on whether it would help stabilise the Middle East or even prevent a regional arms race.
Having spent years pushing for an agreement-whereby economic sanctions on Iran are relaxed in exchange for concrete guarantees that it will not pursue nuclear weapons-the West hopes the last-ditch talks in Vienna set an example to the world.
“It would… demonstrate that the global non-proliferation system works,” said Mark Fitzpatrick, a former US State Department official now at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
“A combination of rules and pressure would have kept the number of nuclear-armed states from expanding, and that’s no small achievement.”
But there are many on the more hawkish side of the debate who feel the exact opposite could happen.
