Time to Treat Iranians Like Real Folks
Published by MinutemanMedia.org on February 4, 2009
By Richard Klass (USAF, ret.)
A chess grandmaster once said that tactics are what you do when there is something to do and strategy is what you do when there is nothing to do. When it comes to U.S. policy toward Iran, this is not the time for tactics. It is the time for a strategic reassessment of our approach to Tehran.
The Middle East is one of the most interwoven political webs on the globe. Everything is connected to everything else. In six months, the region’s politics could be very different than they are now. Iraq will hold perhaps half a dozen elections, which began with provincial elections last month and may include a future referendum on the U.S.-Iraq security agreement. There will be elections in Israel and perhaps the West Bank. The crucial Iranian presidential election will take place in June. This political flux will require constant adjustments in U.S. policy.
The relationship between the United States and Iran will be the axis around which our Middle East policy spins. It is time to break free from the myopia that has characterized U.S.-Iran relations for half a century. Americans who have not followed developments in this part of the world still tend to see Iran through the lens of the 1979 hostage crisis. Iran is seen as dictatorial (largely true), revolutionary (not very true), and ayatollah-controlled (not totally accurate).
Most Americans are unaware of the fact that the largest pro-American demonstration in the Middle East after 9/11 was in Tehran. Many also don’t know that Iran was helpful in overthrowing the Taliban in Afghanistan and that the Iranians wanted to have comprehensive discussions on critical issues – including Israel – with the United States in 2003, but President George W. Bush rejected the overture.
Similarly, many Iranians see the United States through the same ancient lens of British-American exploitation of Iranian oil and the 1953 CIA effort to overthrow a democratically elected government and install the Shah. It is not a coincidence that the American-engineered coup was planned in the same U.S. embassy that was attacked by Iranian students 26 years later.
To help soften these hardened attitudes, the United States should open a diplomatic interests section in Iran, as well as promote cultural and student exchanges. Such changes will take time, but so will any U.S.-Iranian negotiations on substantive issues. In the meantime, both sides should choose their words carefully so as not to make matters worse. The United States should avoid talking about “carrots and sticks” as if we are dealing with a donkey and not a proud country. “Quid pro quo” is a better phrase in a language, Latin, still not quite as old as Persian.
How we exit Iraq will play a large role in U.S.-Iran relations. Pentagon plans to sell frontline tanks and aircraft to Iraq may be seen as trying to repeat the 1980s attempt to use Iraq as a military counterbalance to Iran. This makes no sense when Iraq has a Shia dominated government that has significant ties to Iran. Such a strategy is unlikely to achieve U.S. interests in the region.
The bottom line is that Iran is still years away from having a deliverable nuclear weapon if it chooses to pursue one. In other words, there is nothing for the United States to do right now except craft the right strategy. President Barack Obama should follow through on his campaign promise to conduct direct diplomacy with Iran on the nuclear issue, without preconditions.
The United States cannot afford to get its Iranian strategy wrong. We should take the time needed to get it right. If we successfully rethink our approach, we may avoid the tough decisions that are sure to come later if we simply maintain the Bush administration’s trajectory.
Richard Klass is a retired United States Air Force colonel who serves as president of the Veterans Alliance for Security and Democracy. He is affiliated with the Center's Military Outreach Program.