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A Link to Break: Iran and Mideast Peace Talks

(Washington Post) Ray Takeyh - Although pressuring Israel on settlements may be a sensible means of gaining Arab participation in peace talks, it is unlikely to affect the region's passive approach to Iran. Indeed, should Tehran perceive fissures and divisions in the U.S.-Israeli alliance, it is likely to further harden its nuclear stance. The notion that the incumbent Arab regimes are reluctant to collaborate with the U.S. on Iran because of the prevailing impasse in the peace process is a misreading of regional realities. In private, as any visiting American dignitary can attest, the Arab states, particularly the Persian Gulf sheikdoms, decry Iran's ambitions, fear its accelerating nuclear program, and even hint at the advisability of using military force against its atomic installations. Yet they are loath to be part of an aggressive strategy which would unduly antagonize the Islamic Republic. Arab leaders would prefer that someone else take care of the Iran problem without their active complicity. Absent such a solution, they are likely to coexist with the Iranian bomb. No degree of peacemaking between Israelis and Palestinians is likely to alter that calculus. The writer is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
2010-04-12 09:34:45
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