TEHRAN, Iran — Former International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Hans Blix is in Tehran to meet with senior officials. On March 11-12, Blix met with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as well as Ali Akbar Velayati, the foreign policy adviser to Iran’s supreme leader. In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Blix spoke of his meetings as well as various aspects of the nuclear issue.

Referring to his discussions with Zarif and Velayati, Blix said talk “inevitably” centered on the nuclear negotiations with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1), with a focus on “expectations, difficulties and format.” He expressed optimism about the nuclear talks and how they have proceeded, saying that he is “glad to see and hear that bets in the Western world [on a final deal] are now more like 60-40 than 50-50.” While pointing out that he’s convinced of “strong will” in both the US and Iranian administrations to come to agreement, he stressed that there are many obstacles and spoilers. In the face of the latter, Blix noted that “President [Barack] Obama has one big ally — US war fatigue.”

Blix emphasized that enrichment is a key issue in the talks, but must be viewed in the context of Iran’s historical experiences. He pointed out Iran’s experience of not being given fuel for its US-supplied Tehran Research Reactor, saying it “showed to [the Iranians] that Iran, after the revolution, could not rely on the world as a supplier.” Blix underlined that Tehran thus wants “indigenous assurances.” 

Commenting on the nuclear negotiations, Blix advocated a new negotiating approach, saying, “There is a tendency … to say that if I give you this, I must have that. … This is ingrained in all negotiators, in Washington, Tel Aviv and Tehran. I think this is somewhat unwise. Sometimes, a bit of generosity may give you yields later on.”