What should the United States do about Iran and its nuclear program? Is diplomacy still an option? Before she left on her trip to India and Thailand, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “We remain ready to engage with Iran, but the time for action is now. The opportunity will not remain open indefinitely.”
Secretary Clinton raised the pressure on Tehran on Wednesday. Speaking at a televised town hall in Bangkok, she said, “We want Iran to calculate what I think is a fair assessment, that if the US extends a defense umbrella over the region, if we do even more to support the military capacity of those in the gulf, it’s unlikely that Iran will be any stronger or safer, because they won’t be able to intimidate and dominate, as they apparently believe they can, once they have a nuclear weapon.” Secretary Clinton hopes a “defense umbrella” over the Middle East will deter Iran from pursing nuclear weapons as it recalculates its own national security interests.
Is there any hope that Iran will negotiate with Washington? It’s doubtful that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will compromise. “They tried to interfere in our elections. They talked nonsense. They were rude. They fomented aggression against people’s wealth and property,” he told a crowd in the northwestern city of Mashhad last week. Ahmadinejad also argued that “as soon as the new government is formed, it will enter the global sphere with a power that is 10 times greater than that of the West and overthrow the West from its hegemonic position.”
Michael Singh, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, writes in the International Herald Tribune that when analysts debate if the US should engage Iran “it is a bit like me wondering whether I should invite Angelina Jolie over for dinner: The question isn’t really whether I should ask, but how on earth I would get her show up.”
Regardless, Washington should reach out to Tehran once the dust settles on the election. Talks are unlikely to curb Iran’s nuclear program, but providing Tehran with a credible offer will strengthen Washington’s options in the future. If negotiations work, great. If Iran rejects America’s overtures, the US will easily justify increasing pressure and imposing tough sanctions. An international consensus will be easier to form.
The threat of a nuclear-armed Iran is too great to ignore. And all options should be on the table, including diplomacy.
Photo from Patrick Demarchelier/Vanity Fair.
