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Will the United States and Iran become Natural Allies?
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02/26/07 11:02 AM ET
As I was browsing CNN’s website I came across an article written by Christiane Amanpour, CNN correspondent, who recently traveled to Iran and had a behind-the-scenes interview with a top government official. In the resulting article, entitled “Iranian official offers glimpse from within: A desire for U.S. ally,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stated, “We are not after conflict. We are not after crisis. We are not after war. But we don’t know whether the same is true in the U.S. or not. If the same is true on the U.S. side, the first step must be to end this vicious cycle that can lead to dangerous action — war.”
This made me stop and ponder — can the United States and Iran truly become natural allies? This leaves a big question mark since Iran has ignored the U.N. Security Council’s demand that it stop enriching uranium, a key step toward producing either nuclear power or a nuclear weapon. Iran’s stance is that the United States should become its ally against al Qaeda. That al Qaeda is enemy to both Iran and the United States. Yet Hezbollah, which is also an enemy of the United States, was sponsored by Iran in the recent war with Israel. When asked why it is offering to bring about reconciliation at this time, Iran’s contention is that it wants only peace and security for the Iranian people.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently returned from a meeting with officials from Germany, Russia and the European Union where Iran’s compliance with a U.N. Security Council demand that it stop its enrichment program was reviewed. Rice stated that the United States and European and Russian diplomats have a common goal to encourage Iran back to the bargaining table over its disputed nuclear program. Iran insists its nuclear program is for self-government nuclear power. With this in mind, can Iran be trusted? What assurances do we have that Iran’s intentions are not to build an atomic bomb? Is it waiting for the United States to take the first step to put diplomacy back on the right path, or are we waiting for Iran to take the first step? It will be very interesting to see how this plays out.
This made me stop and ponder — can the United States and Iran truly become natural allies? This leaves a big question mark since Iran has ignored the U.N. Security Council’s demand that it stop enriching uranium, a key step toward producing either nuclear power or a nuclear weapon. Iran’s stance is that the United States should become its ally against al Qaeda. That al Qaeda is enemy to both Iran and the United States. Yet Hezbollah, which is also an enemy of the United States, was sponsored by Iran in the recent war with Israel. When asked why it is offering to bring about reconciliation at this time, Iran’s contention is that it wants only peace and security for the Iranian people.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently returned from a meeting with officials from Germany, Russia and the European Union where Iran’s compliance with a U.N. Security Council demand that it stop its enrichment program was reviewed. Rice stated that the United States and European and Russian diplomats have a common goal to encourage Iran back to the bargaining table over its disputed nuclear program. Iran insists its nuclear program is for self-government nuclear power. With this in mind, can Iran be trusted? What assurances do we have that Iran’s intentions are not to build an atomic bomb? Is it waiting for the United States to take the first step to put diplomacy back on the right path, or are we waiting for Iran to take the first step? It will be very interesting to see how this plays out.
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