Going Small: The Case For ‘Minilateralism’ on Iran
Picco, the veteran UN negotiator who helped free 11 Western hostages in Lebanon, argues for a direct US channel with Iran. He writes that the trend in successful conflict resolution is minilateralism, not multilateralism, and understanding the narrative of who you are dealing with.
There is some buzz about the prospects for a direct US-Iran diplomatic channel, which is long overdue.
When asked Wednesday, President Barack Obama said, “I will try to make a push in the coming months to see if we can open up a dialogue between Iran and not just us, but the international community, to see if we can get this things resolved.”
Russia, one of the six members of P5+1, has for the first time publicly urged Washington and Tehran to start direct bilateral talks to avoid a conflict over Iran’s nuclear program.
The multilateral P5+1 (The US, UK, Russia, China, France, and Germany) forum has been effective in showing Iran a somewhat united front, and keeping up the pressure through sanctions. It is nonetheless a dead end on substantive negotiations that would break the gridlock in US-Iran relations, which, if solved, would accelerate the nuclear talks.
