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New Era of Engagement with Iran and Syria Likely to Be Brief

[Jerusalem Post] Jonathan Spyer - In addition to the new policy of seeking to reduce pressure on Iran, the U.S. is currently engaged in what looks like an extended courtship of the Assad regime in Syria. In words and deeds, the response of Iran and Syria to the Obama approach is also becoming apparent. There is concern at the increasing opacity of the Iranian nuclear program. There are now real fears that a secret uranium enrichment site in addition to the site at Natanz might have been constructed. The new era of engagement appears so far to be providing the Iranians with valuable leeway for the pursuit of their nuclear ambitions, and the Syrians with similar space to avoid being brought to account for their own apparently now discontinued program. In addition, the new era is giving the spokesmen of both dictatorships plenty of opportunity for engaging in the scolding and proclamations of moral superiority of which they are so fond. It is unlikely that this is what the new U.S. president had in mind. It is therefore probable that the new era will be an unusually short one. The writer is a senior researcher at the Global Research in International Affairs Center, IDC, Herzliya.
2009-02-27 06:00:00
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