Iranian-Style Diplomacy

Here is an astutely-titled piece from the AFP: "Iran mixes threats, diplomacy to avoid UN Security Council."

As I have noted previously, Iran is escalating its use of threatening and accusatory rhetoric in an attempt to justify its actions, including its nuclear program.

Such rhetoric obviously makes diplomacy difficult, if not impossible. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is quoted in the AFP piece as recognizing as much:

"It's hard to think of another government which is harder to negotiate with," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw commented Saturday, acknowledging the hardline clerical regime was proving a gritty foe.

One anonymous analyst cited by the AFP offers a useful framework for understand Tehran's actions:

"Iran wants everyone to know that if anyone wants to pick a fight, it has the capacity to respond across the region," a senior Tehran-based Western diplomat told AFP.

"Iran is saying it can cause big trouble for Israel, damage Western interests in Lebanon and worsen conditions for American and British troops in Iraq."

This is definitely starting to look like a regional showdown with Iran and her allies on one side and the U.S. and hers on the other. As further evidence for this point, I want to bring everyone's attention to this line in the AFP piece:

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal has been in Tehran to declare a "united front" against Israel...

This is one of the most underreported aspects of the Hamas victory. Contrary to many ill-conceived paradigms of the Middle East, Hamas has drawn closer and closer to Iran over time. It turns out that Sunni Hamas and Shiite Iran are quite capable of collaborating in areas of common interest (e.g. defeating Israel). More to come on this...