Iran-Al Qaeda Connection: Wanted: An Iran Policy

» Lawhawk - Wanted: An Iran Policy

Iran offers Bush and Kerry a chance to demonstrate their different approaches to the issue of dealing with regimes that, rightly or wrongly, are perceived as hostile to the United States and/or its allies. In a broader perspective, the issue would enable Bush and Kerry to debate their views on how American power should be used in the post-Cold War world.

What is pushing Iran into the American presidential agenda?

The first issue is Iran's alleged program to build an arsenal of nuclear weapons.

There is a growing consensus, even in European circles, that the Islamic Republic has made the strategic decision to "go nuclear." The question is no longer whether anyone could persuade Tehran to change its mind on an issue that lies at the heart of its new defense doctrine.

Ardeshir Zahedi, a former foreign minister of Iran, put the case neatly in a recent article in The Wall Street Journal. He said the real question was whether the region, and beyond it the world, could live with a nuclear-armed Iran under the present regime.

The Iranian nuclear issue is likely to reach the U.N. Security Council this autumn, perhaps on the eve of the U.S. election.

The Bush administration has not developed a clear policy on the issue. Last year, it endorsed European Union efforts to persuade Tehran to abandon the military aspect of its nuclear program. With those efforts now at an end, the administration is reverting to unspecified threats to dissuade Tehran from "going nuclear."

Kerry, on the other hand, has proposed what could, in diplomatic terms, be described as a flight of fancy.

His idea is simple: The United States and its allies should offer to provide Iran with as much enriched uranium as it needs for producing electricity and, at the other end of the cycle, receive the total amount of spent uranium fuel for reprocessing.

In other words, Kerry is inviting the mullahs to give the United States control over both ends of their nuclear program. Although some in Tehran have welcomed Kerry's offer, there is little chance the Islamic Republic will accept it.

The second issue propelling Iran into the headlines concerns Iraq and Afghanistan. Both countries are scheduled to hold elections soon. And Iranian-backed elements in Afghanistan and Iraq are receiving vast sums of money and propaganda support.

-- posted by Lawhawk