UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said today (Wednesday) that Iran must prove its seriousness about peace by abandoning its nuclear weapons program, according to Iran International.
Speaking before an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he said that "The most relevant question is Iran and relations between Iran, Israel and the United States. Here my hope is that the Iranians understand that it is important to once and for all make it clear that they will renounce to have nuclear weapons, at the same time that they engage constructively with the other countries of the region."
Iranian leaders and lawmakers have remained defiant in the face of calls to dismantle its nuclear program, which they continue to insist is for peaceful purposes and not weapons, despite multiple reports and assertions from western powers that the direction of the program is directed towards weapons alone.
Some Iranian hardliners in the Iranian Parliament and elsewhere have called for Iran to openly move towards developing nuclear weapons, against the order of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has insisted that Iran should maintain ambiguity on the matter.
Meanwhile, the incoming Trump administration is reportedly determined to restore "maximum pressure" sanctions on Iran to deter the development of nuclear weapons and the funding of terrorist proxies. Senator of State Marco Rubio also seeks to reinstate UN sanctions on Iran, which were lifted following Iran's nuclear deal with Obama.
Such sanctions could lead to real economic pain for Iran, which is already suffering from economic woes from multiple directions - double digit unemployment for people aged 24-50, over 40% inflation, and a collapsing currency.
Iran, a hydrocarbon power, is also suffering from serious fuel shortages due to aging infrastructure and US sanctions, and it is also struggling to sell its oil, even clandestinely to countries like China, due to the increasing weight of US sanctions.
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