Carrots, Sticks and Iran

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President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and United Nations ambassador Susan Rice have implied that direct talks with Iran are a priority. At an American Enterprise Institute event, former assistant Secretary of State James Dobbins, now of the RAND Corporation, a non-profit institution that helps improve policy and decision making through research and analysis, said “the U.S. should talk to Iranians but should not threaten to bomb them if they don’t listen.” Dobbins said “the U.S. should talk to Iranians but should not threaten to bomb them if they don’t listen.” Dobbins said that “In the past we have met and talked with the Soviet Union and it’s often led to disagreements, but at least we were able to get information.”

Dobbins said that “it is not a good idea to threaten. Threats don’t produce results and it’s not an effective diplomatic tactic.” He served as an assistant Secretary of State to both Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush.

Kenneth M. Pollack, a former director of Persian Gulf affairs at the National Security Council, who is now at the Brookings Institution, is also in favor of an engagement with Iran. Pollack also worked in the Clinton Administration.

Pollack said “we have three different audiences when discussing engagement: European allies, Iranian people and Iranian leadership.” European allies and the international community need to get behind the U.S. and be serious about the pressure they put on Iran. Pollack says that “we need to make clear to the Iranian people that were interested in the behavior of the regime not the nature, we are offering sound community and security and in return would like them to give up their weapons.”

Danielle Pletka, AEI’s vice president of foreign and defense policy studies, says that “Iranians want a dominant regional role,” and questions whether or not the U.S. is willing to see them have that role and really offer bigger carrots.

The Bush administration held at least 28 separate meetings between Americans of ambassadorial rank and Iranian officials during the eight years of the Bush presidency. According to the Middle East Forum, more than 16 meetings were held in Geneva and Paris from November 2001 through December 2002 alone between Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ryan Crocker and senior Iranian Foreign Ministry officials.

Related Reading: Ken Timmerman, author of Preaching Hate, Islam and the War on America, has some information on the efforts of the Iranian government’s lobby in Washington, DC.

Alanna Hultz is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.