Iran
How and Why to Engage Iran
 by Rami Khouri"Engaging Iran in a manner that affirmed its legitimate nuclear industry and regional security concerns, while also opening its domestic system to democratic and human rights norms that its citizens covet... could simultaneously achieve arms control and democratization goals; these would benefit Iran, the United States, the Middle East region and other interested parties." |
Talk to Iran, President Bush
A recent statement, signed by former foreign ministers Madeleine Albright of the United States, Joschka Fischer of Germany, Jozias van Aartsen of the Netherlands, Bronislaw Geremek of Poland, Hubert V'drine of France and Lydia Polfer of Luxembourg suggests that 'the Bush administration should pursue a policy it has shunned for many years: attempt to negotiate directly with Iranian leaders about their nuclear program.'
Compromise still possible
The conflict between Iran and the United States is as old as the Islamic regime itself. But never during the past 27 years has the intensity of hostilities between the two states been so high. Even at the peak of the war with Iraq, and given that Iranians broadly blamed the US for persuading Iraq to attack Iran, animosity between the two countries was not as high as it is today.
by Sadegh Zibakalam
Russia, sole winner of the Iran crisis
Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Hamas to visit Moscow last month, and suggested that Iran transfer its uranium enrichment program to Russian territory. Both proposals exasperated the United States and surprised the world.
by Yin Gang
Wagging the wolf
 Oddly, the US seems less concerned with nuclear weapons and more concerned with Iran. US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns made this clear in a speech last November 30. Iran should be barred from enriching uranium, Burns said, because it supports international terrorism (they "fund" Hizballah which "represents a threat to Lebanon's fragile peace"--the views of Lebanon's voters notwithstanding), because Iran is "undermining Iraqi sovereignty" (breathtaking, really, when you think about it), because Iran has an "abysmal" human rights record (as opposed to China), and because Iran is not a democracy (like, say, Pakistan).by Mark Perry |
Axis of hardliners, from Tehran to Washington
The huge gap between Tehran and Washington has widened in recent months. Top officials of Iran and the United States are not even within shouting distance. The styles of rhetoric differ, but the messages in both directions are filled with hostility.
by Norman Solomon
Mahmoud Ahmadinijad: Questions of Strategy
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinijad comment that Israel should be "wiped off the map" has given momentum to militarization rather than to peace. The statement lacks a strategic vision that would address both the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the role of Israel within the greater Middle East.
by Walid Salem
