The Foreign Service Journal, June 2007

them before negotiations begin — provided one wants to negotiate in the first place. The Iranian government has already offered several times to talk to the U.S. about developments and possible cooperation in Afghanistan and Iraq. Spurning these advances only signals a combination of arrogance and lack of negotiating confidence on the part of the American-led coalitions. There is no essential reason that prevents a U.S.–Iran dialogue even if neither side starts with con- ceding a precondition — e.g., Iran suspending its nuclear enrichment processes in return for the U.S. and others on the U.N. Security Council suspending their sanctions. Those sanctions have been hard to reach, are very limited and are a weak reed on which to base all future U.S. dia- logue with Iran. Talking to Iran without reference to preconditions has the added benefit of sidestepping the kinds of onerous negotiations that the U.S. would have to go through once again if it allowed some of the more reluctant members of the Security Council to suspend the sanctions and found that its talks with Iran were going nowhere. Happily, the U.S. position seems to be softening, at least as regards negotiations with Iran and Syria on Iraq, following the recent recommendations of the Baker-Hamilton Com- mission. If such talks start well, perhaps broader negotia- tions can follow. Sending A Message Indeed, Tehran’s attitude might be gleaned from the peculiar recent military adventure in the Persian (Arabian) Gulf, which saw Iranians pouncing on unsus- pecting British sailors and marines in waters that Tehran claims are Iranian, but which clearly are not so demarcat- ed internationally. (The British assert they are actually Iraq’s.) The incident is reminiscent of the drawn-out 1979-1981 hostage crisis, during which Islamic militants seized some 50 American diplomats and held them for 14 months, despite worldwide condemnation of such an unprecedented breach of universally accepted interna- tional law. Contrary to initial reports and rumors of mal- F O C U S J U N E 2 0 0 7 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 45