Open the Door

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif just concluded remarks to us at the Council on Foreign Relations. He's smart and savvy, for sure, with a doctorate from the University of Denver. Please know at the outset that I share the view of Stephen Kinzer and many others that the Persians are a great people and that Iran was, should be and will again be a friend of the United States, but for the maliciousness of its current leadership and our own ineptitude in managing relations with Tehran since the 1953 Mossadegh coup d'etat.

It's hard to get past Dr. Zarif's initial claim that, "Iran has been a responsible partner in the region." Oh really? Does he expect us to swallow this nakedly false assertion in the face of Iran's ongoing sale of weaponry to Hezbollah terrorists and the Assad regime in Syria? He said, "Hezbollah is acting responsibly." Such statements only serve to undermine everything else he says.

On the subject of ISIL, the Foreign Minister said "many of those now opposing ISIL helped create it in the first place." He didn't name names but, of course, he was taking a swipe at Saudi Arabia, the UAE and even the United States. He called these nations a "coalition of the repentant." His anger at being "disinvited" from last week's ISIL talks in Paris flared up several times during the session. Truth be told, it's ludicrous not to have Iran at the table. They're fighting ISIL - supplying intelligence, troops, equipment and money - and Iraq is their proxy state over which they have tremendous influence. Leaving them out because U.S. and European politicians fear being seen as doing business with Iran - as we already are on the nuclear issue, anyway - weakens the coalition and creates myriad additional problems.

It seems to me that the key to solving messy foreign policy problems is not to create too many new ones in the process. We have been very clumsy in the Middle East over the past 14 years and it is coming back to haunt us. The mutuality of interests we share with Tehran on ISIL should be used to open doors and not close them.

Twitter @jessicamcwade

Photo courtesy of the Times of Israel