Obama's Outstretched Hand To Iran: Obama Could Incapacitate Iran's Foreign Designs
20 February 2013By Tariq Alhomayed
Ever since Barack Obama assumed the presidency of his
country he has pursued the ?outstretched hand' policy
towards Iran, without success. Today, four years
later, Washington has again renewed this policy
towards Tehran, this time in the words of the US vice
president, who warned that the diplomatic window is
narrowing.
Tehran, through its foreign minister, was quick to
respond positively to the US offer-which stressed the
need to negotiate on the nuclear issue-but only under
certain conditions. [Iranian foreign minister] Salehi
asked: ?How do we trust again this new gesture?? In
other words this means that Iran does not trust
America, rather than vice versa, although Washington
knows full well that Iran is moving in every area to
cultivate its agents and spread instability, and of
course threaten the interests of the international
community.
It is enough to consider what Iran is doing in Iraq,
Lebanon, Yemen and Bahrain, and of course Syria, and
after all that Iran says it is not confident in
Obama's calls to negotiate. This is odd, but what is
even odder is that America's outstretched hand policy
is always used when Tehran is just about to face its
internal dues. In 2009, at the start of the Green
Revolution against the backdrop of Iranian
presidential elections that were marred by fraud,
Obama proceeded with the outstretched hand policy.
Today, despite all that Iran is doing, and with the
Iranian presidential elections around the corner amid
the ongoing debate between Ahmadinejad and his
opponents in the Iranian regime, Washington has
returned with the same policy once again.
Of course, I am not calling for the US administration
to wage war on Iran, but rather for greater sincerity
and clarity of vision. Economic sanctions are not the
only means to rein in Iran's recklessness, whether in
terms of its nuclear ambitions or its destabilization
of the region, and there are several other steps that
must also be taken. The problem is that the Obama
administration has already missed many opportunities
to rein in the Iranian regime, including the Green
Revolution, the hasty withdrawal from Iraq, and
allowing Al-Maliki to remain as prime minister without
a cost. The fear now is that the Obama administration
is repeating the same mistake with a new set of
issues. The US president today faces the opportunity
of a lifetime to deal a fatal blow to the Iranian
project in the region, through overthrowing Al-Assad,
a move that would have significant ramifications. Here
we should consider Ahmadinejad's visit to Cairo,
through which he is seeking to break Iran's Arab
isolation, as Tehran senses the gravity of Assad's
downfall. Obama could incapacitate Iran's foreign
designs by overthrowing its primary ally, President
Assad, by pressuring Iraq to become more independent
and less affiliated to Tehran, and also by avoiding a
hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan so that the state
does not turn into another theatre for Iranian
expansion.
All of the above could be achieved if there was a
sincere and clear American policy. If the Obama
administration realized this then Iran would be the
one calling to negotiate, not the other way around.
Here it is wise for the American decision-maker, when
dealing with Iran, to remember the African saying that
was adopted by former US president Theodore Roosevelt:
?Speak softly, and carry a big stick.? This is the
only language that Iran understands, and anything else
is a waste of time.
Tariq Alhomayed is the Editor-in-Chief of Asharq
Al-Awsat, the youngest person to be appointed that
position. He holds a BA degree in Media studies from
King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, and has also
completed his Introductory courses towards a Master's
degree from George Washington University in Washington
D.C. He is based in London.
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