Tehran- At a very critical timing after the Israeli and American aggression on Iran’s nuclear facilities last June and before the European Troika activated the trigger mechanism in the 2015 nuclear agreement, former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the former Tehran ambassador in London Mohsen Bahrond, a “beacon” initiative to transform the nuclear crisis into a universal regional issue.
In a joint article published in the British Guardian newspaper, Zarif and Baharund proposes to create a new nuclear cooperation forum in the Middle East and North Africa regions under the title “Manara” to be under the umbrella of the United Nations, and members are required to reject nuclear weapons and adhere to mutual control, in exchange for the exchange of peaceful technology in the fields of scientific research, energy, medicine and agriculture.
The initiative proposes to establish joint facilities, including uranium enrichment facilities and a joint control body with the participation of the International Atomic Energy Agency, with strict guarantees against any deviation of military use, and that the forum headquarters be in one of the member states.
Great resonance
The authors recall that Iran was the first to introduce the idea of establishing a nuclear weapons -free zone in the Middle East in 1974 through the United Nations, but the project was 50 years old by the opposition of Israel and the United States, despite the support of 100 countries of the Non -Aligned Movement.
The article notes that the recent Israeli and American attacks on Iranian nuclear installations, despite Tehran’s commitment to the Nuclear Weapons Convention, pushed the region to the brink of the abyss, warning that despite Tel Aviv’s failure to achieve its goals and Washington’s inability to subject Tehran, the gambles are still able to push the entire region to an endless open war.
The article comes out as a result that sustainable security in the Middle East is achieved only through collective cooperation and building common frameworks, not through the arms race or the accumulation of strength, and that the “Manarat” initiative provides a model to enhance regional cooperation based on common interests and a sustainable future for all the peoples of the region.
Although the initiative had a great resonance with the political circles in Iran, Al -Jazeera Net had previously addressed the issue under the title “To overcome American pressure … What is the truth of the Iranian proposal to create a joint nuclear project?”, In the midst of nuclear negotiations between Tehran and Washington, which preceded the Israeli attack on Iranian soil, which raises questions about the similarities and differences between the two initiatives.
Meanwhile, former Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi – who headed the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization between 2009 and 2010, as well as from 2013 to 2021 – confirms that the idea of creating a nuclear consortium extends to the beginnings of the Iranian nuclear program, adding in an interview with the newspaper “They Mihn” that the idea failed before the victory of the 1979 revolution because of the obstacles that the Americans have long put in place and their insistence on the necessity of the nuclear union to be outside Iranian lands.
Political division
While Iranian observers believe that the fundamental idea of the “Manara” initiative aims to remove the specter of war from Tehran and pressure international groups to expose the Israeli military program by pushing the Middle East to a “nuclear weapons -free” area, the initiative led to a division between the political circles in Tehran; Where a segment of the idea of the nuclear union sees a golden opportunity to make a nuclear crisis and others consider a betrayal aimed at disrupting the nuclear program.
Meanwhile, the press close to political currents showed a variety of reactions to the initiative, while the official “IRNA” agency expressed conditional support for the plan “in line with government policies to alleviate regional tensions”, in which the reform press, including the Sharq newspaper, found a step to build confidence with Western powers in light of the rigidity of nuclear negotiations.
On the other hand, the conservative press, headed by Kayhan, is close to the Office of the Supreme Leader, with a suspicion of “the unrealistic proposal in light of the Western and Israel attacks on the nuclear facilities”, as its editor -in -chief, Hussein Sharia, considered an administrative that the initiative is an indication of the optimism of excessive writers towards the West and their endeavor to make concessions that may endanger the nuclear independence of Iran.
In the context, the Fares Agency, close to the Revolutionary Guards, described the “Manarat” initiative as an “attempt to appease the West”, stressing that at the best case it represents an ideal idea that will not be implemented in practice due to the lack of confidence between the countries of the region and the pressure of America and Israel, while some other media, including the “Joan” newspaper, have raised concerns about its repercussions on national independence due to acceptance of a more stringent control of the Iranian nuclear program.
As for the moderate media, including the “Esna” news agency, the initiative is considered a “diplomatic tactic to reduce international pressure” from Tehran, explaining that it is an attempt to change the atmosphere of negotiations and gain the support of European countries more than a practical solution.
Iranian delegate to the United Nations: Uranium enrichment will not stop pic.twitter.com/jtx5egeco
– Tel Aviv Tribune Egypt (@Aja_egypt) June 29, 2025
Israel’s relationship
Away from the political alignments in Tehran, Qasim Mahzali, the former general manager of Western Asia affairs at the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sees the presence of a regional or international bond as a necessary condition for the success of any similar initiative, adding that any regional security project must take into account the realism of the role of the American and Israeli axis along with the role and interests of Arab and European countries.
“The projects presented by Europe in the eastern Mediterranean security field were not accepted by Iran because of the existence of the Israeli regime, and this shows that in any such plan the issue of the Israel regime must be determined, because the central point of any plan for the West in the Middle East is its security,” IRNA reported that “the projects presented by Europe in the eastern Mediterranean security field were not accepted by Iran because of the existence of the Israeli regime, and this shows that in any such plan the issue of the Israeli regime must be determined, because the central point of any plan for the West in the Middle East is its security.”
Upon his indication that the Gulf waters “are not only a regional region between neighboring countries, but a free international region in which a security project cannot be presented without taking into account the positions and interests of other powers”, the former Iranian diplomat concluded that “if Tehran thinks in this framework, we may reach a result, but only looking at the neighboring countries and without taking into account the interests of America, Europe and even Russia and China, there will be no possibility to pay a security project in the East Middle “.
As for Ibrahim Rezaei, a spokesman for the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian Parliament, he welcomed the initiative, noting that such proposals are completely separate from enrichment within the country, and approval does not mean that “we will stop enrichment or publish others in it, we are ready to partner with others but we will not share them in this work that we do, and we will continue to enrich as before.”
“The peremptory policy of the Islamic Republic’s regime is the continuation of the fertilization process within the country, and no one has the right to interfere in it, and the continuous fertilization must continue in Iran, and that the issue of the nuclear consortium can be a new project.”
