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How the U.S., Not Iran, Is Making Concessions

(Wall Street Journal) Michael Singh - The central aim of American policy toward Iran in recent years had been to persuade Tehran to make a strategic shift: away from a strategy of projecting power and deterring adversaries through asymmetric means, and toward one that would adhere to international norms and reinforce regional peace and stability. Iran does not, however, appear to have undergone any such change. In Iraq, much is made of the supposed alignment of interests between the U.S. and Iran. But no such alignment is apparent. Iran's overt backing for Shiite militias in Iraq is directly at odds with President Obama's strategy of seeking to restore Iraqi Sunnis' confidence in Baghdad. In Syria, Washington's stated policy is that Bashar al-Assad is illegitimate and that ending the Syrian conflict requires that he cede power, while Iran has worked to shore up Assad. Nor when it comes to Islamic State are the U.S. and Iran on the same page. Iranian leaders accuse the U.S. of having created IS. America is choosing to overlook, rather than counter, long-standing Iranian policies. Combined with the concessions we have made in the nuclear talks, this reinforces the impression that the U.S., not Iran, is undergoing a strategic shift. The writer, managing director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, worked on Middle East issues at the U.S. National Security Council from 2005 to 2008.
2014-11-05 00:00:00
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