There is encouraging news at last from the Korean Peninsula. Washington and Pyongyang have agreed on a deal on inspection of nuclear sites at Yongbyon. And as a quid pro quo North Korea has been taken off the US list of so-called rogue states sponsoring terrorism. The move is aimed at rescuing the disarmament-for-aid deal struck with five regional powers.
Pyongyang has swiftly responded to the overture saying it would revive the disarmament process and open up its facilities for international inspections. The deal has been hailed by all concerned. Regional stakeholders China, South Korea, Japan and Russia see it as a step forward for an isolated North Korea. Notwithstanding opposition from hawks in the US establishment, the accord enables President Bush to neutralise at least one key member of his original ‘axis of evil’. And this may be the most sensible thing this president has done in his second term in the office. Given the mess in Iraq, the other key member of the so-called axis, the turn of events in North Korea is indeed welcome.
If only the Bush administration had demonstrated similar common sense and patience in dealing with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, the Middle East might have been spared this disastrous war and the million casualties it has inflicted on Iraq. Maybe it is too late to cry over the spilt milk in Iraq. But at least the US and the world can avoid making such historic blunders in the future.
If the deal with North Korea is to be taken as a precedent and if the autocratic regime of ‘Dear Leader’ Kim Jong-il can be brought on board, we don’t see why the same logic and approach cannot be used in dealing with Iran! This is no defence of Iran. But unlike America’s traditional friends and allies like Israel, Teheran as a signatory state acknowledges and abides by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation regime. And its nuclear programme is not closed to international inspections either, as has been the case with Israel. So why can’t Iran and the international community, especially the US, talk and resolve their differences? Especially if it can help avoid further instability in the Middle East.
It may be time for the US to realise that its doctrine of ‘axis of evil’ is not working. Rather, it has pushed it into a quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan. Engaging Iran, rather than trying to teach it a lesson only to oblige Israel, may be the only pragmatic option before this administration and the next.
Washington’s engagement with Teheran does not have to come at the expense of its Arab allies. What the Middle East requires is normal, business-like relations between Teheran and Washington. As US presidential candidate Barack Obama argues, the US and Iran need not be friends but they need to sit and sort out the irritants in their relations. The Arabs may have their issues with Iran and its ambitions in the region but tensions between Teheran and Washington destabilise the whole region and the world.
The informal dialogue that started during the Clinton-Khatami era could be revived and carried forward. Teheran’s willingness to negotiate its nuclear programme should be reciprocated. And if the US allows the IAEA, it can even have a similar nuclear deal with the regime in Teheran. It was the use of traditional diplomacy that helped the State Department mandarins neutralise Libya and now North Korea. And it can be done in the case of Iran too.