Jim Dobbins Still Very Smart Posted by Patrick Barry

Jim Dobbins, in addition to being a pretty sharp customer on most matters of foreign policy, is especially shrewd when it comes to framing discussions of engagement with Iran.  Last year, at a CNAS event, he dryly quipped: "My solution for dealing with Iran: Deal with Iran."  His op-ed in today's Washington Post continued in that vein, with the sardonic title: "To Talk with Iran, Stop Not Talking."  Here's the gist:

Perhaps the simplest -- and certainly the quickest -- way to launch a dialogue with Iran, and the one least likely to play unhelpfully into the upcoming Iranian election, would be to simply stop not talking to Tehran. For nearly 30 years, American diplomats have been limited as to when and where they could speak to their Iranian counterparts. The president could authorize Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to lift this ban. It's that simple: Whether the diplomat is Obama's ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice; special envoy Richard Holbrooke, on a visit to Kabul or Islamabad; former assistant secretary of state Christopher Hill when he gets to Baghdad to replace Ambassador Ryan Crocker; or other U.S. diplomats, all would henceforth be free to engage Iranians as they do representatives of other countries with which the United States has troubled relations.

This is very sensible advice.  As Dobbins makes clear, in the near term, this move gives US diplomats the latitude to begin building trust and relationships, which will pay dividends as discussions move toward core U.S. - Iran grievances.  More importantly however, Dobbins' proposal squares the circle of how to approach Iran giving the looming Presidential elections.  Ilan highlighted this concern in an exchange with Joe Klein a few weeks ago, saying that any explicit indication that the U.S. was supporting or opposing a candidate would be construed as interference in the electoral process.  To that I'd add that avoidance could be just as problematic, because it makes engagement contingent on the results of the election, amounting to a tacit endorsement instead of an explicit one. 

So what is the U.S. to do?  Well, something along the lines of what Ilan and Jim Dobbins recommend makes a lot of sense in the short term.  As Ilan proposes, begin with "comprehensive discussions with multiple issue tracks at multiple levels of government," evolving into Dobbin's recommendation for "more meaningful, comprehensive and eventually higher-level exchanges."

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This is very well written post.I have also read one interview of Jim Dobbins where he has given very nicely reply to GIDEON ROSE and STEVE CLEMONS.I would say surly after reading this post that Jim dobbins still is very smart.Thanks...

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