The Foreign Service Journal, March 2010

F O C U S O N I R A Q & I T S N E I G H B O R S I RAQ , I RAN AND THE U NITED S TATES Laszlo Kubinyi 16 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A R C H 2 0 1 0 he 2003 American invasion of Iraq aroused both anxiety and hope in Iran. The advent of U.S. military forces and bases on its western border posed a potential threat to its security. At the same time, the destruction of the Sunni-dominated Saddam Hussein dictatorship stirred expectations that the Shiite majority in Iraq would come into its own, at last, after five centuries of Sunni minority rule, and that Iraq would tilt toward Iran after U.S. forces left. T HE ROUTE TO DIRECT TALKS BETWEEN W ASHINGTON AND T EHRAN COULD RUN THROUGH B AGHDAD . B Y S ELIG S. H ARRISON T