Senator Jon Kyl speaks at a July 26 AEI conference on divesting from Iran.
In last week's Democratic presidential debate, Senator Barack Obama promised that if elected he would meet in his first year in office with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Rival Hillary Clinton called Obama's remarks "naive." But regardless of the 2008 election campaign rhetoric, engagement between the United States and the Islamic Republic is advancing apace. Last week, ambassador-level talks were held in Baghdad on cooperation in fighting al Qaeda in Iraq, and the two countries agreed to set up a joint committee on security in Iraq, even though U.S. officials have not seen any positive action on this front from Tehran. On the contrary, Shiite militias funded and trained by Iran have ratcheted up the violence in Iraq, the regime is holding four Iranian Americans hostage on trumped-up charges, and funds continue to flow to Hezbollah, Hamas, and other terrorist organizations active around the world. AEI scholars have criticized the meetings--which may lead to deputy minister-level talks soon--as dangerous capitulation requiring nothing from Iran. The elephants in the room, of course, are Iran's nuclear weapons program and possible new United Nations Security Council sanctions. AEI scholars have been examining other options for dealing with the regime in Tehran.
