A new report, prepared by the Council on Foreign Relations, says the United States should engage Iran in a "direct dialogue." It goes on to state that Iran's political leadership appears to be firmly in charge, effectively calling on Bush administration hardliners to abandon the illusory hope of fostering "regime change" in Tehran.
The report, titled "Iran: Time for a New Approach," is based on assessments made by a broad-based team of experts, headed by former Carter administration National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski and former CIA director Robert Gates. The report bluntly asserted: "The current lack of sustained engagement with Iran harms US interests in a critical region of the world."
Hostility has marked the US-Iranian relationship since the 1979 Islamic revolution, during which American diplomatic personnel in Tehran were held hostage for 444-days. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archives]. The United States took tentative steps toward reopening direct channels of communication in the later years of the Clinton administration. Those efforts came to an end soon after President George W. Bush entered the White House in 2000. The Bush administration has maintained a hardline stance on Iran, viewing it as part of the "axis of evil."
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) report advocated a policy of "selective political engagement" as a preliminary step toward a broader dialogue. It maintained that talking to Iranian officials would benefit US efforts to stabilize Iraq and Afghanistan, and to reduce the security threat posed by Tehran's suspected efforts to produce nuclear weapons. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive].
"It [Iran] might be induced to be a constructive actor toward both Iraq and Afghanistan, but it retains the capacity to create significant difficulties for these regimes if it is alienated from the new post-conflict governments in those two countries," the report said.
"It is in the interests of the United States to engage selectively with Iran to promote regional stability, dissuade Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons, preserve reliable energy supplies, reduce the threat of terror and address the
Editor's note:
EurasiaNet correspondent Jim Lobe contributed reporting for this article.
