US and Iran Should Adopt Nixon's Yellow-Pad Method
John Limbert writes that the precedents for US-Iran negotiations are not good, and that it's time to use former president Nixon's "yellow pad" method, which distills items for negotiation into “what we want” and “what they want.” The exercise sounds simple, but it's not, especially given years of US-Iran estrangement and mutual hostility.
According to reports from last weekend’s multilateral negotiations with Iran in Istanbul [April 13-14], the assembled diplomats agreed on two points:
- The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty forms a basis for engagement, which means Iran will not develop nuclear weapons and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany — the so-called P5+1 — should respect Iran’s right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
- The two sides will meet in Baghdad on May 23, preceded by a preparatory meeting of deputies.
These items may not seem like much, but it’s always worth noting when Iran and a group that includes the United States can agree on anything. Deep hostility and mistrust on both sides have made reaching agreement on even the basics very difficult. The reason for this is simple: both sides expect failure and go into the meetings convinced that the other’s purpose is to deceive.
“No” is expected, and “yes” is a problem; as the reasoning goes, “Why would they agree to anything that didn’t cheat us?”
So Iran and the P5+1 have found two “yessables.” Now what? Will this achievement — modest as it may appear — help Iran and the United States move away from more than three decades of futile exchanges of threats, insults and accusations? Will American and Iranian officials finally begin talking to each other, if not as friends, at least as representatives of two states with interests that need discussing?
