Iran in Syria Talks? Let's Not Care About What Saudis Won't Allow

[eridani]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/iran-in-syria-talks-lets_b_8374368.html

Why was Iran excluded from the Vienna meeting? Because Saudi Arabia said so, apparently. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said Monday it was difficult to envision a role for Iran in ending the war due to Iran's military role in the conflict. That, of course, makes no sense at all. The other countries the Secretary General named - the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey - have a military role in the conflict. That's why they're crucial to a solution. Saudi Arabia doesn't want Iran to participate because Saudi Arabia doesn't want Iran to have a say in the resolution. That's the same as saying that you want to keep the war going.

The notion that the U.S. should defer to the Saudi monarch's insistence on excluding Iran, despite the fact that Iran is almost universally acknowledged to be crucial to a political solution, recalls what President Bill Clinton reportedly said in 1996 after his first meeting with then (and now) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

"Who the f* does he think he is? Who's the f*ing superpower here?"

Why should we take orders on Syria diplomacy from a king who still doesn't allow women to drive? Let's not care what Saudi don't allow - let's talk to Iran anyhow. If you agree with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and Brookings that Iran should be included in talks to end the war, you can tell President Obama and Congress so here.

[DetlefK]

1. Easy threat: "Saudi-Arabia? Be nice or else we are nice to Iran."