President Barack Obama has declared that “a constructive beginning” has been achieved in America’s new engagement with Iran. Speaking today following the first formal diplomatic negotiation between the Islamic Republic and the U.S. in more than a quarter century, Obama was careful to state that Iran’s agreement to cooperate “fully and immediately” with the IAEA on inspection of Iran’s nuclear facilities was only part of the “concrete…constructive action” that he expected from Tehran.
Still, coming as it did during a week in which it was revealed that the Iranian Foreign Minister had been allowed to travel to Washington to meet with staff at the Iranian Interests Section (at the Embassy of Pakistan) and, at the same time, U.S. and Cuban negotiators sat down for the first time in more than five years, America’s new diplomatic outreach appears qualitatively different from anything attempted by Washington in recent years.
A new, key word has entered America’s diplomatic lexicon, and that word is “engagement.”
A senior U.S. official, meeting with a group of bloggers (including this one) earlier this week in Washington, put it this way in discussing the talks with Iran:
“We really want to find diplomatic solutions to the challenges that we face with Iran, and part of that has been trying to signal to the Iranians a change in attitude, a change in tone, in our relationships with them.”
“What we’re really looking for,” he added, “is an Iranian commitment to finding a diplomatic solution [so that through] reciprocity we would offer some engagement and they would come back with some serious thoughts and serious ideas and serious actions that [in turn] lead us to believe that having a second round of talks will be useful.”
In other words, the United States intends to use diplomacy to the fullest extent possible — tough and sensible, multilateral wherever possible, and step by step.
Earlier this week, following the disclosure of the secret Iranian enrichment program, there was considerable concern voiced that Israel might insist on a more robust response involving immediate new sanctions. But in an interview with our bloggers group, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Colin Kahl said the U.S. is “clearly committed to and I think the Israelis are committed to giving us some time to explore the diplomatic track.”
“We’re simultaneously engaging while building leverage in case the Iranians need additional encouragement to negotiate in good faith,” he added. “I don’t think that any of us think that a military strike by anybody is imminent.”
This is hardly the first time that the U.S. has followed a “dual track” approach of pursuing diplomacy while preparing for other eventualities. But in this case, and in general in foreign affairs, the Obama Administration gives the impression of favoring multilateral diplomacy over other alternatives. It matters also that the civilian leadership of the Pentagon, including Secretary Gates, is among the first to warn of the limits and consequences of military action. As Assistant Secretary Kahl put it in our interview, “Military action is not a desirable course and should be a last option, largely because it will have an unpredictable set of consequences for the region.”
