WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- A prominent Iranian American Thursday welcomed the Iraq Study Group report as " a welcomed air of realism in Washington."
Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council, said in a statement Thursday that the ISG report, chaired by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton, that the report was correct in its recommendation that the United States should initiate a dialogue with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
"The Iraq Study Group's assessment of the situation in Iraq and its recommendation to open talks with Iran is a welcomed air of realism in Washington," Parsi said.
"Just as the 'stay the course' strategy has failed in Iraq, so it has in Iran," he said. "Over the past few years, the Bush administration has squandered numerous opportunities to negotiate with Tehran to advance American interests, including winning Iranian cooperation in Iraq. Each time, the refusal to engage has worked to America's own detriment."
"But just as the administration must now recognize the debacle in Iraq, it should heed the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group and recognize the failure of its Iran policy as well," Parsi said.
"Tehran has progressed with its nuclear program precisely because of the lack of negotiations," he said. It is not talks, but the absence of talks, that has helped advance Iran's nuclear program and undermined the United States' position.
"Direct talks with Iran cannot only help stabilize Iraq -- the study asserts that Iran has more influence in Iraq than any of Iraq's other neighbors -- engagement can also help advance the cause of democracy and human rights in Iran," Parsi said.
