DUBAI, Dec 1: The US decision to engage Iran for bringing stability to Iraq is a major development which will have a positive impact on the entire Middle Eastern region, says Ambassador Robin Lyn Raphel. “We recognize that Iran can play an effective role in stabilizing Iraq and we are willing to talk to them,” said Ambassador Raphel who was in Dubai to attend the inaugural ceremony of a new think-tank, The Dialogue.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters in Washington earlier this week that Zalmay Khalilzad, the US envoy in Baghdad, would engage Iran in a dialogue focusing on Iraq but these talks will have little impact on bilateral ties between the two countries.
The spokesman insisted that Mr Khalilzad, the Afghan-born US diplomat, would only have a ‘very narrow mandate’, dealing ‘specifically with issues related to Iraq’.
Elaborating this point, Ambassador Raphel said that while the US recognizes the role Iran can play in bringing stability to Iraq, it’s not opening a general dialogue with the Islamic Republic.
“For instance, there will be no talks on the nuclear dispute,” said Ms Raphel who has been directly involved in shaping Washington’s current policies on Baghdad as the US coordinator for Iraq.
The US has been trying to persuade Iran to abandon its nuclear programme, accusing Tehran of secretly developing nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charge and says that its programme aims at producing nuclear energy.
Days before publicly acknowledging Ambassador Khalilzad’s contacts with Iran, the US deferred a move to bring Tehran to the UN Security Council for punitive action for refusing to give up its nuclear programme.
“No, we are not offering any assurance to the Iranians on the nuclear issue in return for their cooperation in Iraq,” said Ms Raphel who retired as the US coordinator on Iraq earlier this week. “These are two separate issues and we are very clear on that.”
Senator Mushahid Hussain, who was also in Dubai for the inauguration of the new think-tank, described the US decision to engage Iran as ‘a step in the right direction’.
“The US decision to publicly acknowledge their contacts with Iran shows that President Bush was wrong in describing Iran as an evil state,” said the PML general-secretary.
“The US seems to have realized — three and a half years down the line — that it needs Iran to stabilize Iraq.”
Senator Hussain said that without Iran’s cooperation, the US would not have been able to attain two major strategic objectives in the Greater Middle East region, the removal of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the removal of Saddam Hussein.
“The Iranians were on board on both these issues. Thank God the US has agreed to recognize Iran’s importance in the region. This will contribute to making the region less volatile.”
