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One Year After the Nuclear Deal: Is Iran Moderating?
(Baker Institute) Michael Singh - There is scant evidence that engagement with the West by Iranian President Rouhani and Foreign Minister Zarif is changing Iran or its policies. In consenting to engage diplomatically, Iranian officials are doing so to further their own interests, which tend to stand in stark opposition to those of the U.S. and its allies. Given the strategic challenge that Iran poses to U.S. interests in the Middle East - in its support for terrorism and subversive non-state actors, threats to freedom of commerce and navigation in regional waterways, pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability, and other destabilizing pursuits - the American approach to diplomacy with Iran cannot simply consist of "engagement," but should be nested in a broader strategy to counter the challenges posed by Iran. The writer is managing director at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.