The Negotiations With Iran

Al-Masry Al-Youm, Egypt, January 28

President Joe Biden’s decision to appoint Wendy Sherman, the chief US negotiator for the Iran nuclear deal (from which former President Donald Trump withdrew), as deputy secretary of state, is very revealing of the new administration’s approach to Iran. In recent decades, the Democratic Party adopted containment policies toward many opposing forces both at home and abroad, and the relationship with Iran may be a striking example of this policy. Under President Barack Obama, this policy resulted in the signing of the P5+1 agreement in 2015, which stipulated that Iranian uranium enrichment should not exceed 3.67% purity, that Iran’s 10,000 kilograms of low-enriched stock be reduced to 300 kilograms, and that Iran refrain from building any new nuclear facilities for 15 years. Following Trump’s decision to withdraw from the agreement, Iran took advantage of the opportunity and increased its uranium enrichment to 20% purity, which represents a clear violation of what had been agreed upon. The agreement became nothing more than a dead letter on paper. The real question experts asked was whether Trump’s aggressive stance succeeded in deterring Iran or actually empowered it? There is certainly a large camp of lawmakers and policy advisers, influential in both Europe and the United States, subscribing to the notion that Iran’s actions can be modified through diplomacy: political, economic, and cultural interactions that will empower Iranian moderates and weaken Iranian hard-liners. It is becoming increasingly evident that Biden will seek to pursue a similar agenda of appeasement. This agenda should not be rejected from the outset, but it must also be critically dealt with. Iran must not be negotiated with without making a firm commitment that it will end its conventional aggression toward the countries of the region. While many skeptics say that Iran cannot be reasoned with, I would like to give the new president the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps greater openness to the West will weaken the power of the religious ideology that dominates Iranian society. Perhaps this approach will give the Iranian people a taste of what their lives could be like if their leadership did not hold its people hostage. Granted, this approach is highly concerning for Gulf states – for good and obvious reasons. But it is important to remember that those who will pay the highest price for any military confrontation in the Middle East are not the Americans but the people of the region. There is much to fear and much to lose under this scenario. Therefore, it might be worthwhile to give the Biden Administration a chance. –Amr Al-Shobaki (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)