Iran, for its part, exhausted by eight years of war against the Iraqi invaders, who did use weapons of mass destruction, and frightened by Arab powers armed by the Soviets, looked to Israel and wherever else for support. In Israel’s case that support had to be concealed to placate faith-maddened Muslims, but nevertheless the mullah-run country put religion aside when the practicalities demanded it.
The disintegration of the Communist empire shuffled the cards in the Middle East, and by the time they were re-dealt the Soviet Union was gone, to be replaced by a grab bag of countries with their own foreign policies. Egypt had moved over to become if not a friend of Israel’s, at least not an enemy, and after the Gulf War a depleted Iraq had come to see Tel Aviv not as a threat but a check on Iran, which was pushing to assume a place as the dominant power in the area.
The diplomatic ins and outs and off-again-on-again relationships over the years, especially between Israel and Iran, demand the book-length narrative Mr. Parsi has given them. Suffice it to say that historical fact does not square with the present depiction of Iran, even the Iran of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who, incidentally, has been ordered by the ayatollahs to dial down his anti-Semitic flailings. The historical record, as pieced together by Mr. Parsi, also shows other attempts, beside the May 2002 effort, to negotiate out differences between Iran and the United States.
We are not dealing with a nation of nutball fanatics. We can make a deal with them, but not if we set preconditions to talks that amount to their doing what we want and our doing nothing for them.
The Iranians have demonstrated that, if it comes to sitting down at the table and doing business, they can control their wingnuts. We have yet to demonstrate as much.
The record book indicates that there is no reason on God’s still nearly green earth to attack Iran. We can make the deal, and if we don’t, we are crazier than they are.
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