US Must Work with Iran to Stabilize Both Iraq and Syria

By Bob Dreyfuss, The Nation

06 January 14

ack in 1977, President Jimmy Carter issued a now-infamous remark during a visit to Tehran, when he toasted the soon-to-fall Shah of Iran and called his country an “island of stability.” Maybe he was just a few decades early. Today, even a cursory look at the region between North Africa and Afghanistan reveals that Iran, now led by a new president who’s seeking to strike a deal with the United States and the West, is indeed an island of stability—especially when measured against chaos in Libya, a profound crisis in Egypt, civil wars and violence in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, and an Afghanistan that may very well fall apart when the United States leaves.

That’s precisely why it’s so important for the talks between the United States and Iran to succeed. Iran can play an important stabilizing role in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Indeed, according to the Associated Press, Tehran has quietly offered to assist Iraq’s Prime Minister Maliki in Iraq’s battle against Al Qaeda, which is trying to seize and control territory in Anbar Province and has captured significant parts of Ramadi and Falluja, two important Anbar towns. According to the report, Iran’s army deputy chief of staff has offered to supply Iraq with “military equipment and advisers” but said that Iran would not supply Iraq with Iranian troops. Ironically, the general’s remarks came just as Secretary of State John Kerry, on a lengthy swing through the Middle East, said almost exactly the same thing, namely, that the United States would supply Iraq with arms, military assistance and other help, but no troops. Said Kerry:

“This is a fight that belongs to the Iraqis. We are not, obviously, contemplating returning. We are not contemplating putting boots on the ground. This is their fight, but we’re going to help them in their fight.”

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