Congratulations go to Richard Holbrooke, president Obama’s pro-consul for Afghanistan and Pakistan, who had the dubious honor of being the first member of the administration to have a public face-to-face meeting with a representative of Iran.

Holbrooke had expressed some skepticism about Obama’s outreach plan to Iran over the weekend but apparently has now done his part to advance goodwill with the mullahs while attending a one-day international conference about the future of Afghanistan. According to Secretary of State Clinton, the meeting with Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Mohammad Mehdi Akhondzadeh, was “cordial, unplanned, and they agreed to stay in touch.”

Communication with Iran about the conflict in Afghanistan, as well as the fate of two Americans who are currently missing in Iran, is understandable. What appears to be missing from the administration’s agenda with Iran is conveying to Tehran just how seriously Washington takes their ongoing push for nuclear weapons. There are a lot of things on Obama’s plate right now, including economic disaster and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But as much as he seems to want to pretend Iranian nukes are not a pressing problem, they are now potentially even more dangerous and destabilizing.  Obama’s only hope of avoiding an outsized disaster on this front is a strong stand now. The longer he waits to deal with this issue, the smaller the chances of a satisfactory outcome.

+ A A -
You may also like
Share via
Copy link