It's a happy day when you wake up in the morning, the sun is shining, the coffee tastes good, and a possible discussion between the US Secretary of State and the Iranian Foreign Minister is considered to be unremarkable. The forum is yet another Middle East summit, in which the appearance of diplomacy is more important than what actually gets accomplished. (However, these forums always provide a mechanism for private discussions, beyond what the representatives are saying in public.)
We can only hope that Condoleeza Rice has more to discuss with Iran's government than just Iraq--or even just Iraq and Iran's nuclear program. Any discussion that focuses purely on one or both of these issues omits other Iranian interests, such as its energy projects with India, Russia, and other countries. In other words, while security issues top the list, compartmentalizing them removes what little leverage the US government has with Iran. In that case, private diplomacy will look much like public diplomacy at the Sharm al-Sheikh summit, a statement of positions.
[If the name Sharm al-Sheikh sounds familiar, the resort is the location of terrorist attacks in 2005, and an ugly incident in 1985, when an Egyptian soldier killed several Israeli tourists.]
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