There's been back-and-forth reporting over the last week or so about Dennis Ross, who has hypothetically been chosen as the Special Envoy to Iran for the new administration; Laura Rozen rounds up the confusion here. In any case, let me express my hope that Ross is not appointed to this position. As Matt has noted, Ross has a ton of experience working on the Israel-Palestine peace process -- dating back to his work in the State Department under George H.W. Bush -- but none with Iran. Some of his writing on Iran has indicated support for an approach somewhat at odds with with the Obama administration might pursue. For instance, he suggests in this piece that an engagement based on the potential for increased sanctions, and not on the potential for future cooperation, is the best strategy for approaching the problem of Iran's nuclear program. I'm not sure that's the right approach to changing Iran's behavior. Instead, let me suggest Flynt Leverett as the new administration's envoy to Iran. A former National Security Council staffer during the Bush administration who had worked at the State Department and the C.I.A, Leverett resigned in 2003 after a series of policy disagreements. So far as I know, he does not have a job in the current administration. Leverett's views on Iran can be sussed out from this piece, which outlines the potential for a "grand bargain" with the state. But it's especially useful because it puts U.S. options in a forward-thinking strategic context, figuring out how to deal with the interests of both countries. It's all the more interesting given the news that some U.S. experts have been quietly and unofficially meeting with Iranian counterparts in Europe. Now, I don't know if Leverett has enough political juice to be named a special envoy, but he does seem to have a very clear idea about how to balance Iranian and U.S. interests and would represent a distinct change from the previous administration's approach, which is, I hope, what we're going for here. UPDATE: Spencer talks about some of these issues, too.
-- Tim Fernholz
