Is Iran’s new president presenting a moderating image to lure the West back into a nuclear deal?

Is Iran’s new president presenting a moderating image to lure the West back into a nuclear deal?

FOX News-Sept 29th2024

Iran’s new president, Massoud Pezeshkian, traveled to the U.S. last week to present a moderate, rational face of the regime to the world.

He claimed in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that Iran did not want to be a source of instability in the Middle East, and only wanted peace. The president spoke of a “new era of cooperation” with the West and made an overture to engage in nuclear talks.

He scored a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of UNGA.

His new government appears eager to improve its relations with European countries. U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi said after meeting with Iran’s foreign minister that he saw an openness from Iran to have meaningful discussions on its nuclear program.

But is it all for show, or is Pezeshkian steering Iran on a path to peace?

Experts say Iran is sending Pezeshkian out to project a moderate front on the global stage – but behind the scenes he holds little power. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini pulls all the strings.

“[Pezeshkian] is a moderate by the standards of Iran… and the fact that the supreme leader let him run and win signals they want a different relationship with the West,” Ambassador James Jeffrey, who led U.S. diplomacy in countries across the Middle East in the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations, told Fox News Digital.

Iran’s last president, Ebrahim Raisi, a member of the conservative popular Front party, died in a helicopter crash on May 19. Pezeshkian, an independent, was elected in July.

“Economically, they’re in dire straits, despite the fact we’re not enforcing our sanctions on exporting several millions of barrels of oil a day. He’s been tasked to fix this by calming things with Western states. The problem is he’s not the real leader of Iran.”