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Diplomacy Is Not "the Best Tool for Iran"

(Times of Israel) Ephraim Asculai and Emily Landau - In an August 16 op-ed in the Boston Globe entitled "Diplomacy Is the Best Tool for Iran," Nicholas Burns, a veteran U.S. diplomat and director of the Aspen Strategy Group, made the case for creating a direct channel between Washington and Tehran and beginning an extended one-on-one negotiation with all issues on the table. However, Burns gives the impression that diplomacy is a new idea that was never tried. Not only has a string of diplomatic initiatives been attempted for almost a decade, all of these efforts have met with failure. Indeed, Obama came into office with his hand outstretched to all U.S. adversaries, and got a slap in return from Iran. The problem is not that diplomacy has not been attempted, but rather that the job was not done well. Iran is not interested in a negotiated deal because it would mean giving up its long-held goal of attaining a military nuclear capability - a goal that it is close to achieving, and for which it has paid a heavy price. To get Iran to negotiate seriously, its cost-benefit calculation will have to be profoundly altered. Massive pressure is essential to get Iran more interested in cutting a deal. Dr. Ephraim Asculai is a senior research associate at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University. Dr. Emily B. Landau is Director of the Arms Control program at INSS.
2012-08-27 00:00:00
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