 |
AIC Update January 2005 | Volume # 2 | Number # 7 | |||
| a catalyst for change through dialogue and understanding |
 | |||
|
Talking Points: AIC Press Releases & Alerts: Commentary: Perspective: |
|
|
Talking Points:
Each week the Council publishes Talking Points in AIC UPDATE to improve dialogue on issues integral to improving US-Iran relations.
In January of 2005, the Stanley Foundation’s Gulf Security Initiative produced a Policy Brief titled “Realistic Solutions for Resolving the Iranian Nuclear Crisis.” The author of the brief, Michael Ryan Kraig, suggests that “desired US national security goals and global nonproliferation goals will be impossible to fulfill if the interests, perceptions, fears, and ambitions of the "target state", Iran, are not duly considered and incorporated into US decision-making.” Kraig identifies three Iranian perceptions and domestic realities important to the success or failure of an Iran policy and five policy recommedations for the United States and its allies. This week’s talking points identify and discuss the perceptions and policy recommendations provided in this report. Domestic Reality 1: Many Iranian believe “the United States has never accepted the idea of an Islamic Republic and never will.” The United States must recognize the regional and national interests of both the Iranian people and the Iranian government and suggest the articulated issues are resolvable. Domestic Reality 2: “The majority of both sides [the Iranian right and left] want to score the same touchdown – namely, a full indigenous fuel-cycle capability.” Iranian officials have begun to speak about nuclear technology in terms of inalienable rights, couching the debate in nationlistic terms. Domestic Reality 3: “The Iranian conservatives and reformists alike are willing in principle to bargain…on any issue under the sun. However, there is one exception to this rule: the right of Iran to uranium enrichment under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).” However, decisions most likely will not be unilateral and will require significant carrots from the United States. Recommendation No. 1: “The United States must erase the implicit (and sometimes explicit) hostility toward the very idea of an Islamic regime in Tehran, accept the basic results of the Revolution, and work with the factions in power through the Foreign Ministry in Tehran.” The notion that threats will persuade Iran from developing weapons is a logical fallacy. Recommendation No. 2: “Do not carry out preemptive or preventive military strikes on (suspected) Iranian nuclear weapons facilities.” Such strikes are likely to destabilize security, at the very least, in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Israel. Recommendation No. 3: “The feasible solution is to…create a Gulf environment as secure as possible for all states – Iran included – so that explicit weaponization and nuclear deployments never occur.” A minimum security environment is necessary to dissuade Iranian nuclear ambitions. Recommendation No. 4: “Work closely with US friends in the Gulf to coordinate and integrate bilateral activities with Iran, including increased Arab investment in Iran’s faltering economy.” Iran’s government is sensitive to the struggling domestic economy and is likely to respond to economic incentives. Recommendation No. 5: “Reduce the fears of existential destruction that Israel and Iran harbor toward each other.” The United States must mitigate the rhetoric from both Israel and Iran that suggests mutual destruction. AIC Press Releases & Alerts:
State Department Relaxes Visa Restrictions for Students and Scientists
Commentary:
EThe following essay was originally written by Hooshang Amirahmadi in 2002 following President George W. Bush’s State of the Union speech that characterized Iran as a member of the ‘axis of evil’. However, the ideas are as pertinent today as they were three years ago. The essay has been slightly adapted and updated to reflect current events.
What the carrot pile should include can be debated. It must begin with building mutual trust between the two governments regarding their intentions. One sure measure towards this end is reciprocal and simultaneous public announcements that Tehran and Washington are ready to reestablish diplomatic relations within the framework of a pre-negotiated agenda for formal talks to follow. These announcements can be mediated by the United Nations or another mutually trusted third party. After all, lack of diplomatic relations even between countries at war is against the established norm of international relations. Another tool of trust building is a reciprocal acceptance of interests and role. Tehran must acknowledge the legitimate American global interests and role. The United States should reciprocate by acknowledging the legitimate Iranian regional interests and role. This reciprocity should not infringe upon the legitimate interests and role of other states. US-Iran relations have no real friend in the region. The two administrations must lobby these states to enlist their support. Most governments have a strong interest in regional political stability. Cooperation is the key to regional trust building and creating a win-win situation. To help build trust and confidence, both sides must broaden their perspectives of each other’s concerns, deeds, intentions and capabilities. American officials have stressed Iran’s strategic significance, but this is often done to underscore its potential for aggression. The presumption that “a weaker Iran is a better Iran” was the basis of the “dual containment” policy, now expanded into an “axis of evil” policy. Yet, in the last 150 years, a strong Iran has never initiated any hostility toward its neighbors. In contrast, whenever Iran has been weaker, as in the post-1979 period, wars have been imposed on it and regional instability has followed. The fight against terrorism and fundamentalism, peace in the Middle East, and confidence building in nuclear matter can be coordinated in the best interests of the two nations and the states in the region. Iran lives in a dangerous neighborhood, and partnership with the United States can allay Iran's anxiety and provide it with a protective umbrella. While rich in oil and gas, geography, and human resources, Iran lacks the required capital and technology, shortcomings that the United States can uniquely help to mitigate. Partnership with the U.S will also make Iran a natural “pivotal” or “anchor” state for regional peace and development. The big carrot pile should also include specific incentives. The United States must repackage its previous offers to Iran and add new strategic incentives immensely attractive to Tehran. US carrots can be designed to serve US strategic interests. A global settlement of Iranian assets, opening to pipelines through Iran, and other energy investments will bear considerable fruit. While US firms continue to be barred from investing in Iran, European companies have used the relative calm in the relations, rushed into Iran and imposed monopolistic deals on the country, thanks also to the unilateral sanctions and an ineffectual ILSA legislation. But the carrots must be offered with clearly delineated and realizable objectives. Paramount among such objectives for the United States is to see Iran become a strategic partner, along with Israel. This requires that the two countries develop a common language, purpose and action plan on terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, the Middle East peace, regional security, and safe flow of oil from the region. Washington particularly wants Iran to help in the fight against Islamic fundamentalism and for the stabilization of Afghanistan. While the United States has economic interests in Iran, they are far less important than its strategic and geopolitical interests. Iran must deal with Israel as a reality and help change Israel’s perception of Iran as a threat. Rhetoric has had an important role in the creation of the threat perception. Iran must understand and change this. The Islamic Republic has said that it will not interfere with the peace process and accepts any settlement reached between the Palestinians and Israelis. This is not enough. Iran must help craft a just peace, since the lack of peace is an obstacle to the rapprochement between Iran and the United States. To play a positive role toward establishment of a Palestinian state, Iran must reduce tension with Israel. Perspectives:
Former President Bill Clinton was interviewed by journalist Charlie Rose during this year’s World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, between January 26 and 30. President Clinton spoke in depth on the current state of US-Iran relations. The following are excerpts from this interview.
|
||
| About Update AIC Update is a public service of the American Iranian Council aimed at educating Americans, including Iranian-Americans, about US-Iran relations. AIC Update is an information resource for US-Iran relations and the efforts of the American Iranian Council to perpetuate meaningful dialogue between the United States and Iran. | Vision The vision of the American Iranian Council is that the United States and Iran will work together, since their common interests far outweigh their differences. AIC also envisions the Iranian-American community playing an increasingly significant role in American society, and Iran becoming a democratically developed member of the global community with full respect for human rights. | Mission The mission of AIC is to be a constructive force, in cooperation and partnership with other organizations, in bringing the United States and Iran together, involving the Iranian-American community in the dialogue, and bringing attention to social and political conditions in Iran. |
|
Copyright © 2004 American Iranian Council. All rights reserved. Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Contact Us To unsubscribe please send an email with 'unsubscribe' in the subject line to unsubscribe@american-iranian.org |
||
