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Last update - 05:21 12/06/2009
Obama envoy raises possibility of U.S. strike on Iran
By Reuters
Tags: iran, obama, dennis ross 

U.S. envoy Dennis Ross, in a new book he co-authored, raises the possibility of the use of military force against Iran should negotiations fail to head off Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Ross, who is leading the U.S. diplomatic effort to engage Iran on a series of issues, wrote "Myths, Illusions, and Peace - Finding a New Direction for America in the Middle East" with David Makovsky, a former journalist who is a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

The book, released on Thursday, is significant in that Ross, who led President Bill Clinton's Middle East diplomacy in the 1990s, has said little in public on Iran since he was named in February as a special adviser to handle the issue.
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The authors included a nuanced, 30-page chapter that lays out options for dealing with Iran, which has so far not responded to President Barack Obama's overtures for better relations, with elections there coming up on Friday.

"Tougher policies - either militarily or meaningful containment - will be easier to sell internationally and domestically if we have diplomatically tried to resolve our differences with Iran in a serious and credible fashion," they wrote.

In fact, they argued, if negotiations fail to prevent Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons - which Tehran denies seeking - any package of inducements that had been offered to Iran should be made public.

"Such an approach may build pressures within Iran not to forgo the opportunity that has been presented, while also ensuring that the onus is put on Iran for creating a crisis and also for making conflict more likely," they wrote.

The Obama administration, like the Bush administration before it, has refused to take the military option off the table in dealing with Iran, while stressing a desire to find a diplomatic solution.

Ross and Makovsky wrote that the United States should pursue engagement without preconditions but with diplomatic pressures, such as European economic sanctions, to persuade Iran that "the costs of pursuing the nuclear option are real and will not go away, but that Iran has a door to walk through."

Back channel Talks

The two authors recommended the United States seek back channel talks with Iran as a discreet way to hear Iranian concerns and respond to them. Any such channel should connect to Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, they said.

A State Department spokesman, P.J. Crowley, said Ross would decline comment. "Dennis defers to his co-author since he is now a government employee," he said.

They speculate that one basic vulnerability of Iran is its reliance on selling oil as the source of 80 percent of its export income and 75 percent of government revenues.

Should Iran's leaders come to believe that "Iran's economic lifeline is going to be cut and the oil revenues are going to dry up, they may well decide that the nuclear program is not worth the cost," they wrote.

The authors suggested ways of overcoming reluctance by China and Russia to take more punitive measures against Iran beyond the three rounds of UN sanctions that have so far failed to pursue Tehran to halt its nuclear enrichment program.

China might respond to pressure from Saudi Arabia, because Beijing has major new investments in Saudi petrochemicals and are jointly financing new oil refiners.

"The Saudis need not broadcast what they are doing - but they do need to be enlisted to quietly pressure the Chinese to change their approach to Iran lest they lose out on a profitable future with Saudi Arabia," they wrote.

They wrote that with Russia, the United States might consider trade-offs to entice Moscow to help, ideas that included reconsidering U.S. plans for missile defense in Eastern Europe or for extending NATO membership to uneasy Russian neighbors Ukraine and Georgia.

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      1.   Nonsense 23:15  |  Axel 11/06/09
      2.   How about 23:30  |  JJ 11/06/09
      3.   Axel - Costs to US of Military Action? 23:31  |  Mark of Lewiston 11/06/09
      4.   It`s warmonger Jew Dennis Ross 23:31  |  Harold 11/06/09
      5.   iran for ever 23:34  |  farrokh 11/06/09
      6.   DENNIS ROSS... 23:48  |  Ed 11/06/09
      7.   Ross A Nobody 23:57  |  Persian Kitty 11/06/09
      8.   Didn`t the shooter in DC refer to World Jewry manipulating 00:10  |  Honest Question 12/06/09
      9.   RE: Nonsense; serious question, does EU want Ukraine in NATO? 00:31  |  Ninjateck 12/06/09
      10.   Another "military" adventure being pushed by Jews 00:39  |  gly 12/06/09
      11.   How about a U.S. strike on Israel/Iran? Ross is absurd. 00:51  |  Lou Medel 12/06/09
      12.   Dennis Ross does it again! Rocking & blocking Obama`s boat 00:51  |  Ivar 12/06/09
      13.   more nonsense 01:13  |  Capt Ahab 12/06/09
      14.   The "wet dreams" of Dennis Ross..... 01:14  |  Swiss (Dino) 12/06/09
      15.   Prety good hypothesis 01:14  |  mike 12/06/09
      16.   denis ross replaces eliot abrams as jew spy 01:45  |  but difference 12/06/09
      17.   This is not going to happen. 02:08  |  American in NY 12/06/09
      18.   Grasping at straws 02:22  |  Mark Lincoln 12/06/09
      19.   Ross 02:24  |  Jack 12/06/09
      20.   How to sell books. Lesson 1 02:28  |  binny 12/06/09
      21.   Uh huh, yeah sure 02:49  |  Arie 12/06/09
      22.   Dennis Ross: regional Superman!!!! 03:19  |  Johnboy 12/06/09
      23.   Ross is a shill for Israel 03:33  |  WHG 12/06/09
      24.   # 3 -- a voice of sanity 03:38  |  Jonathan 12/06/09
      25.   Group Therapy 03:52  |  Theodor Herzle 12/06/09
      26.   Jack # 10 04:04  |  JJ 12/06/09
      27.   Ross Will Sabotage the Iran Initiative 04:14  |  Arik Silverman 12/06/09
      28.   The US Will Not Strike Iran 04:17  |  crlman 12/06/09
      29.   Ross=Mossad=AIPAC=Zionist propagandist 04:41  |  Bernie 12/06/09
      30.   Hey dummies..... 05:11  |  abby 12/06/09
      31.   wii 05:22  |  zac 12/06/09
      32.   Iran 05:26  |  jerome 12/06/09
      33.   15 Arie - Feel Free to Challenge N Korea 05:43  |  Mark of Lewiston 12/06/09
      34.   news title is bs 05:45  |  paulo2005 12/06/09
      35.   For the last time 05:48  |  Natallie Durson 12/06/09
      36.   Sanctions Do Not Work, It`s Time to Hit Iran 06:16  |  Shepherd 12/06/09
      37.   Let the Iranians go nuclear 06:20  |  D 12/06/09
      38.   #4 It`s the terrorist, Harold 06:28  |  DAVID 12/06/09
      39.   I`m not done yet... 06:36  |  Natallie Durson 12/06/09
      40.   #33, Mark of Lewiston 06:37  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 12/06/09
      41.   Outdated tactic of baby-sitters 06:43  |  Shimon Cleopas 12/06/09
      42.   Denis Ross and Iran 06:56  |  DT 12/06/09
      43.   BLUFF aimed at ISRAEL as well as IRAN 07:10  |  Fortuna Benmayor 12/06/09
      44.   Time for sanctions is over : It?s time to act! 07:19  |  Mario Sala 12/06/09
      45.   Iran -Doea not care about economic sactions 07:44  |  Joshua 12/06/09
      46.   A POTENTIAL TRAITOR 08:50  |  indrajaya 12/06/09
      47.   Ross` wishful thinking 11:10  |  Westwell 12/06/09
      48.   40 Cipora Julianna Kohn - Objective Reality 11:10  |  Mark of Lewiston 12/06/09
      49.   No Best Sellers` list Dennis 11:20  |  Westwell 12/06/09
      50.   #40 Awww, come on, be fair, Cipora 11:36  |  Johnboy 12/06/09
      51.   Natallie Durson 12:45  |  JJ 12/06/09
      52.   "Obama envoy" 16:25  |  Harold 12/06/09
      53.   Dennis Ross 23:12  |  Tom Vanorden 12/06/09
      54.   Iran signed the non-proliferation treaty 02:44  |  sharpinchitown 13/06/09
      55.   farruk (5) in Tampa 16:58  |  Andrew 14/06/09
      56.   Dennis Ross the Myth and Illusion maker! 17:00  |  jim the mechanic 14/06/09
      57.   Ross is the new Jonathan Pollard 21:24  |  Uri 15/06/09
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