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Syria Offers Opportunity For US-Iran Talks

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani emphasizes diplomacy, and US President Barack Obama should give it a try on Syria before going to war.

Aug 29, 2013
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (R) meets Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili in Damascus February 3, 2013, in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA. REUTERS/Sana (SYRIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS)

ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR  EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - RTR3DAL6
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (R) meets Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili in Damascus, Feb. 3, 2013. — REUTERS/Sana

TEHRAN, Iran — It took the images of large numbers of dead children lined up in neat rows, snuffed out by a method of warfare that breached Obama’s so-called "red line," for the US administration to seriously consider the prospect of intervening militarily in Syria for the first time since the conflict erupted in spring 2011.

Aside from providing definitive evidence that the regime — and not the rebels he supports — is responsible for the attack, Obama must demonstrate he has exhausted all diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the crisis before he can justifiably go to war. This means talking to Iran.

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