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Ahmadinejad's Proposals Shouldn't Be Dead on Arrival

The Iranian president's proposals for defusing the nuclear crisis and ending the civil war in Syria matter, writes Andrew Parasiliti for Al-Monitor. Let's offer to sell Iran enriched uranium in return for a halt in enrichment, and encourage the emerging regional consensus about the need for a negotiated outcome for Syria and a role for Iran.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks during a news conference on the sidelines of the 67th United Nations General Assembly in New York, September 26, 2012.  REUTERS/Brendan McDermid (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS)

Covering the visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to New York makes good copy, and the media has tended to emphasize his more colorful and objectionable comments. When Ahmadinejad questions the Jewish claim to Israel, he gets plenty of headlines, and deservedly so. As president of Iran, his words matter and he is accountable for them.

But when he puts forward what might be constructive offers on the nuclear negotiations or ending the violence in Syria, he is often ignored or dismissed as irrelevant, a lame duck, a liar or on the losing end of a power struggle with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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