‘United States of Iran’!

I know what you are thinking. What is wild about this? Everybody knows that despite their hawkish rhetoric, Americans and Iranians are dying to talk to each other. Their differences in ideology and foreign policy are radically different. But for some strange reason, they tend to agree on certain things rather quickly. Iranians are happy about the removal of Saddam Hussein to their west and the Taliban to their east. Americans are happy about Iran giving al-Qaeda forces in Iraq and its environs the cold shoulder. But neither has the audacity or simple politeness to thank one another.

Well, what is wild about this whole episode is the possibility of a US-Iranian rapprochement that will come at the expense of certain actors in the region. At least this is how most Arab regimes and political movements see Iran's moves since the invasion of Iraq. The suspicion and fear of Iran goes deeper than many in the Arab world think. But there is also a silent support for Iran's courage to stick out its neck against the world's only superpower.

Iranians leaders know very well how to play to the sentiments on the Arab street. Every time Ahmadinejad attacks Israel and the United States and denies the Holocaust, he is speaking not to the Iranians but to the Arab street. Iranian elites are sophisticated enough not to take such ideological salvos seriously. By contrast, the Arab street is full of ears waiting to hear a different voice; an irresponsible yet courageous voice raised over Israel's unjust policies, expansionism and their shameless approval by US administrations. None of the Arab leaders can say what the Iranian president can say about the US, Israel and others in world politics. And this makes Ahmadinejad infinitely more powerful than his Arab counterparts. That is why he is always smiling when he meets the leaders in the region.

After years of failed policy, more Americans are calling for a radical change in the US approach to world politics. Most recently, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates admitted that "slick PR" in the name of public policy would not help Americans abroad. It will not rebuild US image and credibility around the world. What is needed, Gates said, is a substantial revision of US policy, not how it is presented to others.

Claiming and doing otherwise is like saying: "Hey, all of my policies are just fine. You idiots don't get it." This is what US politicians seem to be saying when they say things like, "Well, we need to reach out to the world and explain to them what we are doing." This is all fine. But the problem is not what people think, but what you're actually doing. Images and perceptions do not come out of the blue.

So Iran is yet another test case. If Americans are really serious about talking to Iran, it will be more than talking to Tehran. It will involve taking other measures, such as talking to other actors. Talking to Iran and, say, trying to destroy Hamas, does not cohere. All policies to marginalize Hamas have ended up undermining Fatah. It the end, those who benefit from the suffering of the Palestinians reap the benefits, but with a hefty price tag.

Certainly, the time has come to talk to the "bad guys." But the one basic precondition for having any intelligible talk with anybody is to stop calling them names. This is true for both Americans and Iranians. Lowering tensions in the region is a must and to everyone's benefit, including Israel, which is always suspicious of any peace deals.