US Offers Familiar Carrot For Iran Nuclear Compromise Iran has suffered a series of horrific crashes of old planes in recent years. Barbara Slavin writes that spare parts have been a perennial US offer to induce Iran to change its ways. While it's theoretically possible for Iran to buy spare aircraft parts directly from US firms, Iran faces nearly insurmountable hurdles in obtaining the parts. Iran
It's Time for US to 'Go Big' And Close Deal With Iran On the heels of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's statement that Iran will be offered "a diplomatic way out," Andrew Parasiliti writes that the US should indeed recognize Iran’s right to enrichment and accept Iranian offers of cooperation, saying that there's no downside to President Obama going all out on Iran. Iran
Religion Could Be The Key To Russian Aid On Syria Russian interest in Christian minorities in the Middle East continues to this day as Moscow frets over their future. Henri J. Barkey hopes that these concerns could provide the West and Moscow with a way to resolve the Syrian crisis. Rather than just shaming the Russians, he writes, we must devise opportunities that provide them with a real stake in a new outcome. Originals
American Ball Player in Iran Unmasks 'Real' Iranian Life With the newest round of Iran nuclear talks upon us, looming sanctions and the third anniversary of Iran's faltered prelude to the Arab Spring, it's easy to forget that Iran is a place where people live, work, flirt — and play basketball. A multi-dimensional new documentary premiering Friday, "The Iran Job" follows an American ball player in Iran. Iran
Former Obama Official Says US Should Put Cards on Table Colin Kahl, a former Obama Defense Department official, tells Al-Monitor's Laura Rozen why the Iran nuclear talks in Moscow scheduled for next week should not be make-or-break for the West. He explains why Iran doesn’t take Israel’s threat of force seriously, and why it may be time for the US to give a little in order to resolve broader concerns. Iran
Republican Foreign-Policy Player Counsels Caution in Egypt, Syria Brent Scowcroft, a veteran Republican voice on US foreign policy, said the US “isn’t smart enough” to solve the Syria crisis and that intervening in Egypt "will create more problems in the long run” in an interview with Al-Monitor's Barbara Slavin, indirectly criticizing hawkish advisers to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Syria
US Should Ease Sanctions, Recognize Iran Enrichment Rights The Iran nuclear talks scheduled for next week will fail if the the West and Iran do not put a stop to the chicken-and-egg game, writes former Iran nuclear negotiations spokesman Seyed Hossein Mousavian. The West should stop sanctions set to go in effect in July and Iran should agree to confidence-building measures about its uranium stockpile. Originals
Egyptian Court Dissolves Parliament Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court issued two momentous rulings Thursday that analysts in Washington and Cairo describe as amounting to a soft coup, writes Laura Rozen. The court effectively called for the dissolving of Egypt's recently-elected legislatures just days before the anticipated run-off elections. Egypt
Top Romney Adviser Says US Should Arm Syrian Rebels In an interview with Al-Monitor's Barbara Slavin, Richard Williamson, a foreign-policy adviser to Mitt Romney, says the US should be willing to intervene in Syria as Clinton did in Kosovo. He also demanded that Iran cease all uranium enrichment and said the US should be more loyal to Israel, which he said Obama has thrown "under the bus." Syria
Russian Helicopter Sales to Syria Complicate US-Russia Arms Deal As new reports emerge that Russia is providing attack helicopters to Syria, writes Richard Sisk, the US Defense Department is struggling to justify a $375 million deal to buy similar helicopters for the Afghan Air Force from the same Russian agency. Originals
US Exclusion of Iran on Syria Threatens Syria, Nuclear Talks The Obama administration’s decision to cut Iran out of a group trying to resolve the Syria crisis may backfire, writes Barbara Slavin, encouraging Tehran to sabotage a post-Assad government and also undermining nuclear talks. Iran has shown time and again that if it is excluded from the regional security order, it will seek to undermine it. Syria
West, Iran Have Different Ideas About Iran’s Economic Health It's widely believed that a dismal economy hurt by sanctions was the main reason Iran returned to negotiations with the P5+1 in April. However, writes Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, the Iranians don't seem to be behaving as if their economic clock is ticking. Are they bluffing or looking at a different set of facts? Originals
Israeli Tourists "Not Needed" In Turkey, Says Erdogan The Turkish-Israeli relationship is close to hitting rock bottom, writes Tulin Daloglu. The two countries once had good relations, relative to Israel and its other regional neighbors, but just last week the Turkish Prime Minister's declaration that Israeli tourists were no longer welcome once again exemplified bad blood between the nations. Originals
The Soft Approach Toward Syria Won't Work We should stop pretending and hoping that somehow sanctions, the Annan plan, negotiating with the Russians, or expelling Syrian diplomats will answer the mail on Syria and stop the killing, writes Al-Monitor's Aaron David Miller. It won’t. There is no way to get rid of Assad on the cheap. Originals
How Lebanon Can Avoid Another Civil War Amal Mudallali writes that the Arab Spring has changed the landscape in Lebanon and brought back a sense of empowerment to the Sunni community, especially its Islamist component. However, Lebanon has thrived only when compromise and accommodation guided decisions, and not when its communities tried to militarily overcome each other. Lebanon
In Divided Libya, Elections Are Only Part of the Answer Libya’s first election in 40 years has been postponed from the long-promised date of June 19 to July 7. Mustafa Fetouri doubts that the election will be held on the new date or at all in the near future, and argues that it could actually lead to more bloodshed and greater social tension in a tribal society where revenge is the order of life. Libya
