A Softer, Gentler Era of U.S., Iran Relations?

This is my piece in IPS(Inter Press Service) about the latest news on Iran-US relations. For this piece, I interviewed Mr. Shamsolvaezin, a prominent journalist and analyst in Iran and Dr. Abbas Milani, director of Iranian Studies at Stanford University. It is interesting to review their thoughts on why the diplomatic option has become more acceptable among both sides....

"After the costly catastrophes in Iraq and Afghanistan, Iranian analysts believe that the United States has already eliminated the possibility of military action against Iran. Although the Bush administration has tried to put pressure on Tehran by supporting U.N. Security Council sanctions over its nuclear programme, there has been a shift from the "use of force" to harsh diplomacy. "A gradual sanctions scenario is currently under review in the U.S. In this scenario, there are increasing steps of sanctions against Iran," prominent Iranian journalist and analyst Mashallah Shamsolvaezin told IPS from Tehran. "The West believes the Iranian economy will not be able to tolerate these sanctions on the one hand, and on the other hand they believe that when Iran is completely exhausted by the sanctions, it will come to the negotiating table about its nuclear plans."

"While there are certainly dedicated minorities in Iran and America who, for different reasons, crave a military confrontation, even an attack on Iran, and while in the expected discourse of diplomacy 'keeping all the options on the table' is believed to be simply wise policy, I think a majority of policy-makers in Washington and in Tehran have realised that at this moment, direct negotiations, even if they end up in failure, is much more in their interest than a military confrontation," Milani told IPS. (read the rest
of the story here.)