Anyone with lingering doubts that Iran sees the current negotiating cycle as a vehicle for carrying it to regional hegemony should read a revealing op-ed column in Sunday’s New York Times by Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister and a key participant in the Lausanne talks.
Zarif emphasizes the “dignity” with which Iran has engaged the P5+1 and how it has “stood firm in the face of coercion while simultaneously showing the magnanimity to open new horizons of constructive engagement.” He goes on to say, “The purview of our constructive engagement extends far beyond nuclear negotiations. Good relations with Iran’s neighbors are our top priority.”
He adds, presumably with a straight face, “Security cannot be pursued at the expense of the insecurity of others. No nation can achieve its interests without considering the interests of others…. Nowhere are these dynamics more evident than in the wider Persian Gulf region. We need a sober assessment of the complex and intertwined realities here, and consistent policies to deal with them. The fight against terror is a case in point…. The establishment of a collective forum for dialogue in the Persian Gulf region…is long overdue….”
And then the foreign minister of the greatest supporter of terrorism in the world goes warm and fuzzy about respecting the territorial integrity and political independence of all states and the inviolability of international a boundaries.
But then he gives it all away, noting that “this cooperation must be kept to relevant regional stakeholders.” Given his expectation that Iran will at some point be the only country in the neighborhood with a nuclear arsenal, you can easily figure it out. Let’s hope the Obama team can as well.