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International Herald Tribune
July 8, 2010


The Iran Agenda


Secretary of State Hillary Clinton must be applauded for her strong message of support for civil society and the human spirit as she traveled to countries where the trend toward semi-authoritarianism seems to be on the rise (“Clinton reassures Russia’s neighbors about ‘reset,”’ July 5). Examples include Azerbaijan, with its Soviet-style bureaucracy stifling innovation, dissent and the human spirit, to Georgia and Ukraine, where the Soviet ghosts still roam.
As she was making her whirlwind tour of the countries on the periphery of Iran, imagine if she had actually landed in Tehran in a bold move to engage in the direct negotiations that President Obama had so eloquently suggested a year-and-a-half ago.
Iran has close relations with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey. An engaged Iran could be of immense help in bringing the Armenians and Azeris together. Further, an engaged Iran could assist the United States in so many ways in Afghanistan (as it did in 2001) and Iraq and extricate America from two costly wars.
The question is, with so much at stake, why is such a bold move not on the U.S. administration’s agenda?

Fariborz S. Fatemi
McLean, Virgini