Etwas dreht sich: Reuel Marc Gerecht, der wichtigste Iran-Spezialist der Neocons, rät der amerikanischen Regierung zu sofortigen, bedingungslosen Gesprächen mit Iran.
Sein Kalkül: Dies würde die Mullahs in Erklärungsnot bringen und Amerika den moral high ground sichern, der auch für eine eventuelle Militäraktion gegen das Atomprogramm notwendig wäre.
![200609121_gerechtreuelmarc150.jpg](https://blog.zeit.de/joerglau/files/2008/02/200609121_gerechtreuelmarc150.jpg)
Reuel Marc Gerecht Foto: AEI
„When dealing with the mullahs, it is always wise to follow the lead of one of Iran’s most audacious clerical dissidents, former Interior Minister Abdallah Nuri. In 1999, he mocked the regime for its organic fear of the United States. Is the revolution’s Islam so weak, he said, that it cannot sustain the restoration of relations with the United States?
It would be riveting in Tehran — and millions of Iranians would watch on satellite TV — if Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice challenged the regime in this way: Islam is a great faith; the United States has relations with all Muslim nations except the Islamic Republic; we have diplomatic relations with Hugo Chávez and American diplomats in Havana. Why does the Islamic Republic fear us so? Is the regime so fragile? President Khatami repeatedly said that he wanted a “dialogue of civilizations.” The United States should finally say, “O.K., let’s start.”
If the Bush administration were to use this sort of diplomatic jujitsu on the ruling clerics, it could convulse their world. No, this is absolutely no guarantee that Tehran will stop, or even suspend, uranium enrichment. But a new approach would certainly put the United States on offense and Iran on defense. We would, at least, have the unquestioned moral and political high ground. And from there, it would be a lot easier for the next administration, if it must, to stop militarily the mullahs’ quest for the bomb.“
Der ganze Text hier.