A Path for Engagement with Iran

On the radar: Mousavian on practical steps for engagement; an Insider’s guide to the budget; Avoiding B-2 mistakes with the new bomber; China-Iran nuclear talks; and Breaking: the U.S. might be building a nuclear bomb.

February 10, 2012 | Edited by Benjamin Loehrke and Mary Kaszynski

How to engage Iran - Thirty years of miscommunication and missed opportunities haven’t helped the current crisis. But “there is a peaceful path -- one that will satisfy both Iranian and U.S. objectives while respecting Iran's legitimate nuclear rights,” former Iranian negotiator Hossein Mousavian writes in Foreign Affairs. “Washington and Tehran must find that right path together, and, despite what passes for debate in the international arena today, I believe they can.”

--Mousavian sketches out a practical path for engagement. The first step: “the United States should declare, without condition, that it does not seek regime change in Tehran.” Next steps should include a “grand agenda” that lays each country’s interests and goals, cooperation on security in Afghanistan, counternarcotics and counterterrorism, and efforts for regional stability and development. http://owl.li/900nC

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Budget day prep - “An Insider's Guide To Decoding the Pentagon Budget,” by Winslow Wheeler in AOL Defense. The seasoned budget analyst provides a how to for people writing on the defense budget. Included insight: “Sometimes getting to table 32-1 in Analytical Perspectives can be tricky.” http://owl.li/8ZJvP

Not doing B-2 again - “Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz said it was critical that the military and industry come up with an airplane design that was affordable enough to be built in significant numbers and could be ready for delivery in the mid-2020s.” Andrea Shalal-Esa has the story for Reuters.

--Wiggle room: “We are not intent on delivering a capability that is extravagant, that is excess to our absolute needs,’ said Schwartz, adding that the new bomber could be improved over time. http://owl.li/8ZJAV

Quote - “We need to disconnect missile defense from the Reagan mythology that it can make nuclear weapons "impotent and obsolete," and answer hard questions about the threat, and the technology,” writes David Hoffman at Foreign Policy. http://owl.li/8ZJyf

Senators against containment - A resolution being circulated by Sens. Bob Casey, Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman calls on Iran to halt all uranium enrichment and opposes a policy of containment. The resolution could be an attempt to move the administration away from diplomacy and towards a military solution, experts told Politico. http://owl.li/8ZJD6

Beijing to Tehran - A senior Chinese official is headed to Tehran for “a further exchange of views with Iran over its nuclear program,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said, adding "We have consistently advocated dialogue and cooperation as the only proper channel for resolving the Iran nuclear issue." Reuters reports. http://owl.li/8ZLNO

CRS on Hormuz - A new CRS report takes a look at the potential scenarios for conflict in the Strait of Hormuz. Bottom line: “Prolonged outright closure of the Strait [appears] unlikely. Nevertheless, such threats can and do raise tensions in global energy markets and leave the United States and other global oil consumers to consider the risks of another potential conflict in the Middle East.” (pdf) http://owl.li/8ZJOa

New Security Summit Attendees - Denmark, Lithuania and Azerbaijan intend to participate in next month's Global Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea, bringing the number of countries represented up to 50, Global Security Newswire reports. http://owl.li/8ZJRh

Not The Onion - “They are living in a state with a government that would rather spend money on a nuclear weapons program than on the welfare of its people,” said State Dept. spokesperson Victoria Nuland about Iran. http://owl.li/8ZJW1

U.S. might be developing nuclear weapons - “Our intelligence estimates indicate that, if it is allowed to progress with its aggressive nuclear program, the United States may soon possess its 8,500th atomic weapon capable of reaching Iran,” The Onion reports Iranian FM Ali Akbar Salehi as saying. http://owl.li/8ZJTg