Dealing with Iran

by Gareth Smith December 1, 2006

written by Gareth Smith December 1, 2006

Iran’s influence in the region and the Islamic world will likely continue to increase in 2007, as the United States fails to come up with credible strategies for managing Iraq or for reaching international consensus on Tehran’s nuclear program. If Washington is serious about talks, however, Iran may gradually return to the less confrontational style that characterized its 2003-2005 negotiations with the European Union. Nonetheless, such talks cannot bring tangible fruit as long as the US and EU continue to demand concessions—in particular, the complete cessation of uranium enrichment—that Iran’s political class is unwilling to make. As Iranian UN envoy Mohammad-Javad Zarif recently told James Baker, the ex-diplomat trying to produce a new Middle East policy for President George W. Bush, any deal comes with a hefty price tag. Lebanon will remain a point of contention between the US and Iran (and Syria), as Tehran has neither reason nor desire

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Gareth Smith

Gareth Smith was a distinguished journalist who reported from the Middle East for over two decades. He served as the Financial Times correspondent in Tehran, where he was the chief Iran correspondent from 2003, following his earlier role as Lebanon correspondent. Throughout his career, Smith covered Middle Eastern affairs for leading media outlets, including The Financial Times, The Guardian, and the BBC. He also contributed as an editor to Executive magazine. His work as a freelance journalist in the 1990s, focusing on the politics of Iran and Iraq, paved the way for his appointment at the FT. In 2009, he relocated to the west coast of Ireland, where he balanced freelance journalism with his passion for nature and the land.

Dealing with Iran

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