The Foreign Service Journal, March 2015

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2015 31 matic personnel appear in Wash- ington, teams of “ghostbusters” who know how to deal with the phantoms of the past should be present. On our side, here are some guidelines that will help us get it right this time. ■ Move carefully. We should not be in any hurry. As much as possible, we need the assurance that the events of 1979 will not be repeated, and that the Iranian authorities will fulfill their responsibilities under international law and practice. The Iranian domestic political scene remains an arena of competing groups, which are looking for opportunities to embarrass their rivals. We need to be sure that at the first setback (and there will be setbacks) one group or another will not be able to act out “Hostages II,” as some groups did when they seized the British embassy in Tehran in November 2011. ■ Listen to those who know. In Washington there are many competing voices on Iran, and the views run from “It’s all our fault” to “They are evil people.” Our diplomats in Iran will not know everything, but at least they can provide a measure of first- hand reality useful in evaluating the ideas peddled in op-eds and think-tanks inside the Washington Beltway. ■ Be serious about supporting our people. Create what the department has never had: a cadre of Iranists. Six or nine months of Persian study at FSI and a two-year posting does not an Iran expert make. That is a useful beginning, but if there is no coherent follow-through, the time and money spent will be wasted. Officers need serious language and area studies train- The problem is obliviousness. In this way of thinking, whatever happened then has nothing to do with today. WATCH FOR Education Supplement Coming in June! Offering You a World of Ideas About Your Child’s Education Online at: www.afsa.org/schools_supplement.aspx An Iranian soldier guarding against chemical weapons during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). Wikimedia Commons