State Department: Middle East needs 10-year plan including pressure on Iran, improved US relations with Sunni countries
The international community allotted the Iran agreement at least 10 years, a time frame that, according to a State Department official, may be necessary "to stabilize the region and to implement the two-state solution."
While all international attention is focused now on the upcoming implementation process of the Iran deal, many more diplomatic efforts and agreements will be required for the Middle East to stabilize. Regional stability will depend on how fundamentalist terrorism is dealt with, no less so by a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Strategic policy analysts in the State Department are dealing these days with the ramifications of the Iran deal on regional stability.
A senior State Department official, who is part of Middle East policy planning, told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the US administration intends to use the Iran deal for policy initiatives on regional issues: "We plan to exert pressure on the Iranians to halt inflaming the region through their assistance to Hezbollah and Hamas. In parallel, the US will strengthen its cooperation with pragmatic Sunni countries — Egypt, Saudi Arabia, perhaps also other Gulf countries, and Jordan. This has to be viewed as an incremental process, as we view the relationship with Tehran. We have given the Iran agreement at least 10 years; a parallel time frame may be necessary to stabilize the region and to implement the two-state solution."
This may sound like a long time, but it is probably a realistic way to look at future developments, definitely when it comes to the Palestinian issue. Without a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue, there will always be a latent time bomb threatening the peace of the region.
