Iran's leaders don't want better relations with the U.S.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Given Russia's increasingly confrontational behavior and threats to retaliate for international criticism of its invasion of the former Soviet republic of Georgia in the Caucasus, the U.N. Security Council is sure to remain ineffective in addressing the Iranian nuclear issue because of the threat of a Russian veto.

Moreover, Russia is upgrading its ties with Iran. On Sept. 18 Russia announced plans to sell more military equipment to Iran, including new anti-aircraft missiles that Iran could deploy to protect its illicit nuclear weapons program.

The incoming Obama administration needs to recognize that attempts to negotiate a diplomatic deal with Iran represent the triumph of wishful thinking over past experience.

Under current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's predecessors, Iran concealed and lied about its nuclear program for two decades before admitting it had built a secret uranium-enrichment plant at Natanz in 2003. When confronted, Tehran agreed to suspend its uranium-enrichment program, undoubtedly out of fear of a U.S.-led intervention after America took military action to remove regimes in neighboring states led by Saddam Hussein in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Iran engaged in a halfhearted charade of negotiations with the EU-3 -- Britain, France and Germany -- in which it temporarily froze its uranium-enrichment efforts, only to resume such dangerous activities after Ahmadinejad was installed in power in 2005 and the perceived threat of a possible U.S. military strike diminished.

Tehran perceived that the international situation had shifted in its favor. The United States faced deteriorating security conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan, in part because of Iranian meddling; oil prices surged, insulating Iran from the threat of sanctions; and Iran cultivated Russia and China to fend off effective sanctions at the U.N. Security Council.

Despite this, there are continuing calls for further attempts to reach a "grand bargain" in which Iran would pledge to abandon its nuclear efforts and support for terrorism in exchange for various economic carrots and security guarantees. However, the prospects for such a grand bargain are grossly overstated and ignore the past history of U.S. diplomatic efforts to reach an accommodation with Iran, which exploited and sabotaged U.S. efforts at engagement during the Carter, Reagan and Clinton administrations.

Hopeful talk about a new effort at rapprochement represents the triumph of wishful thinking over disappointing experience. The simple truth is that Iranian hardliners do not want genuinely improved relations with the United States.

Not only do they see the United States as the "Great Satan," but they fear the temptations that the "Great Satan" can offer.

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(Part 4: Why Iran's leaders fear the United States)

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(James Phillips is senior research fellow for Middle Eastern affairs in the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies, a division of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies, and Peter Brookes is senior fellow for National Security Affairs in the Davis Institute at The Heritage Foundation.)

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(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)