A John Kerry Visit to Iran?

In your opinion, what is the reason behind Ms. Rice’s withdrawal from her nomination as Secretary of State?

The root of this decision is Congress’ opposition to her candidacy and to some extent Mrs. Clinton’s negative view toward her appointment. Of course, the AIPAC lobby must not be ignored; Ms. Rice left the UN General Assembly during Netanyahu’s speech and this was a blow to the regime in Tel Aviv. This measure was probably not taken in collaboration with the US Secretary of State and such an action was directly discussed with Mr. Obama. The different positions taken by Ms. Rice regarding the US embassy attack in Libya was perhaps the best excuse to damage her reputation. But apart from these issues, the lobbying of white Protestants in their refusal to accept two black officials in the US leadership structure must not be forgotten. Nevertheless, Ms. Rice will maintain her status and influence for Obama and, beside her position in the UN, she is an influential member of the US national security apparatus.

Who are the possible replacement candidates for Ms. Rice and which one has more of a chance of being approved?

There have been different speculations. John Kerry’s chances of being approved seem to be higher than the others, but there is the possibility that Obama reshuffles his cabinet and forms his cabinet with individuals whose ideas are closer to his own. Obama is in a situation where he has to work with the Congress and its Republican majority during the next two years. At the same time, he must cooperate with them to some extent in order to advance his policies.

The importance of foreign policy for Obama during the next few years is not less than economic issues. Obama must try to prevent certain movements inside the US from building scenarios against him in the transition period. It seems that some people in the executive body make efforts to accelerate certain variables in US foreign policy so that the US policies will practically not be reformed. Obama is carefully supervising these behaviors; for example, when the White House and the US National Security Council oppose the intensification of sanction policies, the US Treasury simultaneously provides another list for sanctions. These approaches contradict Mrs. Clinton’s reference in her news conference to the US’ readiness for negotiation and it seems that the idea of negotiation pursues other objectives and so far no constructive approach has been observed.

In his previous positions, John Kerry has always attempted to talk accurately and properly and, in some cases, he has shown his willingness to visit Tehran. A US change in behavior in the new administration could be very positive and if the US puts aside its incorrect policies and compensates for its past actions, these visual changes can prepare new grounds for this matter to be assessed. The US foreign policy team has never offered realistic proposals and has lost different opportunities and damaged Tehran’s trust in a balanced path where the rights of Iranians are respected; to such an extent that this contradictory and double-standard behavior has been transformed into an iron hand in a velvet glove.

What changes will take place in the US State Department and US foreign policy if John Kerry is appointed?

Many of the people who used to work in the US State Department with a professional and balanced outlook were forced to leave this department under the pressure of those who were affiliated with AIPAC, and they either retired or turned to teaching.

This incident prepared the playing ground for the AIPAC lobby to pursue its negative and confrontational policies. Weakening US foreign policy and contaminating it with extremism, including plans to negotiate with guerrillas in Afghanistan and or in Syria and plans to remove certain hypocritical organizations, which have themselves confessed to terrorism, from the list of terrorist organizations, are not issues to be taken lightly.

Considering the fact that the issue of Iran is one of the most important issues Obama is faced with in his second term as president, which individuals in your opinion will be influential with regard to Iran and will give counsel to Obama on this issue?

We must wait and see who the new members of Obama’s team will be. I think Mr. Obama will continue to consult with Valerie Jarrett and Gary Seymour. I’m not an astrologist, so I think we’ll have to wait for these matters to become a bit clearer; Mr. Obama himself is probably not too certain about some of these issues.