Why Hassan Rouhani's Trip to Austria Was Canceled

Despite all the preparations and announced news, Hassan Rouhani's trip to Austria scheduled for Wednesday was canceled. While Reuters and German news agencies quoted the Austrian presidency's office stating that the reason for the postponement was security issues, IRNA did not mention the reason for the cancellation. According to reports, the Austrian presidency's office stated in its announcement that the trip on March 30 and 31 of the Iranian president and his accompanying delegation was postponed by the Iranian side due to security reasons. Meanwhile, the Iranian presidency's office announced that the trip of the Islamic Republic of Iran's president to Austria would take place at an appropriate time, due to security reasons and to coordinate further with the agreements of both parties to ensure better conditions regarding the programs and agreements desired by both countries, and in coordination with the host. Rouhani's trip is postponed while Heinz Fischer, the president of Austria, had previously stated to the Islamic Republic's broadcasting on Monday that Iran and Austria have always had good relations, and the signing of the nuclear agreement has improved the grounds for cooperation between the two countries. Mohsen Jalalpour, the head of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, also mentioned on Monday that many contracts were set to be signed during Rouhani's presence in Austria. The cancellation of Rouhani's trip raises many questions, including what these security issues mentioned by Iran could be. Hossein Alizadeh, a former diplomat residing in Finland, told Radio Farda, 'The postponement of such trips due to security issues is not unreasonable, but it is said in Iran that there are still differences on the topics under discussion between the two sides that need time to resolve.' Alizadeh believes that the existing duality in Iran regarding economic policies could also be a reason for the cancellation of this trip.