A National Interest article said on Tuesday the United States should face the reality that it "needs Iran", despite President Barak Obama's pledges that the understanding reached with Iran in the negotiations over its nuclear program in Lausanne on Thursday is not an indication of "a wider diplomatic opening" between the two countries.
"The Obama administration… has assiduously reaffirmed that progress on the nuclear issue does not signal a wider diplomatic opening," the article said, noting, "Such a posture ignores an overwhelming strategic reality: America's position in the Middle East is in free fall, and the only way out is to realign US relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran."
It referred to the damage the United States has suffered due to its interventionist and hegemonic policies in the Middle East, saying, "Trying to remake and, ultimately, subordinate the Middle East through military campaigns and other forms of coercive intervention has not just failed; it has been profoundly self-damaging to America's strategic position," adding, "America has made itself weaker."
To recover, the article recommended that, the US "must embrace a new Middle East strategy" requiring two things. "First, Washington needs to engage—positively and comprehensively—with all important regional actors. Second, Washington needs to recalibrate relations with America's traditional Middle Eastern allies," such as Saudi Arabia.
"A robust diplomatic opening to Iran is essential to both these tasks," the article stressed.
