U.S. must retain focus on nuke issue in talks with Iran

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- The incoming Obama administration should warn the Islamic Republic of Iran that continued meddling in Iraq, particularly cross-border support for the "special groups" and other forces hostile to the Iraqi government, will destroy the possibility of better relations with the United States, slow the pace of withdrawal of U.S. combat forces and increase the size of the residual force that President-elect Barack Obama promised to maintain in Iraq to assist the Iraqi government in fighting terrorism.

After he takes office next month Obama also should make sure that in any talks with Tehran, the United States sets conditions that minimize Iran's ability to exploit such talks to defuse international opposition to its hostile foreign policy.

One last attempt at a negotiated solution to the nuclear impasse may be necessary, if only to set the stage for the use of military force as a last resort, but the Obama administration must be careful not to hand Tehran the opportunity to go through the motions of diplomatic dialogue in order to undermine international support for economic sanctions and military action while it continues its nuclear program in secret.

Given Iran's long history of taqiyyah diplomacy, duplicity and denial on the nuclear issue, the United States should enter into direct diplomatic talks only if there is a clear understanding that the talks are not open-ended and that Iran must halt its suspect nuclear activities and agree to robust International Atomic Energy Agency inspections of its nuclear facilities for the talks to continue beyond a reasonable time limit -- one that is measured in weeks, not months.

The talks should be conducted through the State Department, not the White House, and Obama should rule out any meeting with Iran's leaders unless they have agreed to halt their nuclear weapons program.

The Obama administration should also support democratic opposition forces within Iran. A strategy of regime change is problematic and unlikely to succeed before Iran attains a nuclear weapon. The government of the United States cannot depend on exile groups. The future of Iran will be determined by groups that have strength on the ground inside the country itself.

There is considerable grumbling at a lack of freedom, human rights abuses, corruption and economic problems within Iran today, but there is no certainty that such grumbling will lead to meaningful change any time soon. A well-educated group of young reformers are seeking to replace the current mullahcracy with a genuine democracy that is accountable to the Iranian people.

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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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