Majid Tafreshi
After the election of the new Iranian president in July 2012 and coming of President Hassan Rouhani's administration to office, both London and Tehran made up their minds to review their relations and the way they interacted, and to find a new solution for the resumption of bilateral, regional and international relations. The presence of the British foreign secretary in Tehran indicates seriousness of London for repairing the past relations between the two countries.

Ronald E. Neumann
The President of the American Academy of Diplomacy and former US Ambassador to Afghanistan and Bahrain says it’s important for Iran and the United States to fully honor their commitments, so that one might hope for the reconciliation and coming together of the two countries in the future. Citing the domestic politics of the United States, he notes that despite the internal clashes between the Democrats and Republicans, the United States will eventually ratify and approve the agreement.

Nazem Dabbagh
On the whole, noncompliance with the cease-fire is a negative development and violation of the cease-fire by either side will certainly lead to conflicts between the two sides. Turkey has been carrying airstrikes against the positions of PKK and this issue can provide a practical excuse for noncompliance with the cease-fire. However, it should be noted that war will not lead to positive results and the two sides should return to the negotiating table in order to solve their problems and avoid war because it would be a futile measure.

Sebastian Kurz
In all those years people suffered deeply because of these sanctions. That is one of the reasons why we hope so much that it will be possible to reach an agreement; that is the reason we are hosting these talks in order to be supportive and to create a positive atmosphere for these negotiations. But in the end, the negotiators have to reach this agreement and I think what we can do is to create an atmosphere as positive as possible and we are trying our best to do so.

Dunja Mijatović
We need to see in which countries we see systematic abuses of free speech and freedom of the media. And here I talk about safety when journalists are threatened, beaten, imprisoned, but also killed in streets of some cities. This is not happening, if you say, in the mainland of Europe. There are huge differences and we have to be realistic. But at the same time, we should not shy away of pointing the finger if we see there are violations, because sometimes in certain societies – and I’m from Bosnia and Herzegovina, I’m from Sarajevo, we do forget how important it is to preserve the rights of every person.

Waslat Hasrat-Nazimi
Waslat Hasrat-Nazimi responded to our questions about security in Afghanistan, the Afghan people’s sentiments about the continued presence of foreign troops in their land, opium cultivation, drone attacks and the domestic politics of the war-hit country.

Scilla Elworthy
Unfortunately, the possession of nuclear weapons has become associated with great power status, because the five permanent members of the UN Security Council were the first ones to have nuclear weapons. And they never understood that their reasons for wanting nuclear weapons were identical to the same reasons that India, Pakistan, Iraq or any country would have to possess nuclear weapons; reason to feeling threatened, wanting to be secure and to be able to practice what they called “deterrence”. It’s now been made perfectly clear to everybody that deterrence doesn’t work. When we are in an age of sub-state groups operating, when we’re in an age of so-called terrorism, nuclear weapons are useless; completely useless.

Gavin Rees
Mr. Gavin Rees shared his viewpoints with us about the rise of the terrorist group ISIS in the Middle East and the media coverage of its dreadful activities, the approach of the corporate media towards the conflicts of the Middle East and also Iran’s nuclear program.

Eldar Mamedov
In an interview with Iran Review, Eldar Mamedov shared his viewpoints about the future opportunities for the expansion of the relations between Iran and the European Union and the importance of inter-parliamentary interaction between the two sides. He said that with the chances of a comprehensive agreement between Iran and the six world powers over the nuclear standoff in sight, the European firms have already got prepared for resuming their business with Iran.

Jim Lobe
A noted American journalist tells Iran Review that any Iran-U.S. rapprochement following the possible conclusion of the nuclear deal will weaken Israel’s influence in the Middle East and Washington, and that’s why they’re pulling out all the stops to make sure that there would be no arrangement and deal by the June 30 deadline.