Was war inevitable? Yes, according to the latest revelations from the British newspaper The Guardian. According to several sources within the British diplomacy, the national security advisor for the United Kingdom, Jonathan Powell, who was involved in negotiations between the United States and Iran, believed that Tehran had done enough on its nuclear program to avoid a conflict.
According to several sources, Jonathan Powell was accompanied by an expert from the British Cabinet Office to attend the negotiations that took place in Geneva, Switzerland, at the end of February.
“It was progress”
“The British team was (pleasantly) surprised by what the Iranians proposed,” said a former British media official. It was not a final agreement, but it was progress. “
A new series of technical discussions were supposed to take place on March 2 in Vienna, Austria. But two days after the end of the talks in Geneva, the United States and Israel launched their operation “Epic Fury” against Iran.
The British national security advisor, however, believed that the “surprising” offer would be enough to avoid a war. “Jonathan thought that an agreement was possible,” said a source close to The Guardian. The only stumbling block was the inspection of Iranian nuclear sites by international experts.
Jonathan Powell’s presence at the talks in Geneva, and his belief in a possible agreement on nuclear issues, thus explains the British government’s reluctance to support the American attack on Iran.
