Should the U.S. seek a dialogue with Iran now, or hold back until the Iranian presidential elections?
The answer is now. In 2005, all predicted the victory of Hashemi Rafsanjani, Europeans and Americans have been as surprised as Iranians by the outcomes of their recent elections so it is absurd for outsiders to think that they can calculate how their diplomacy would tip Iranian voters. If the Ahmadinajad camp gets re-elected, negotiations thereafter would become even more problematic. Time is of the essence; the U.S. should not wait to develop and implement a strategy. Should the U.S. approach and seek nuclear talks with Iran alone, or insist conducting nuclear diplomacy in conjunction with the EU-3 plus Russia and China? In conjunction with the Europeans plus Russia and China. Nuclear talks with Iran alone are a trap. They would introduce unnecessary division and friction. The U.S. will lose critical leverage if it enters the talks without the support – and indeed the experience – of its European allies. It should also make every effort to win over Russia and China, since influence ov
