10 | APRIL 22 • 2021
PURELY COMMENTARY
JUST LOVE THEM!
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conventions.
Trump administration
actions — additional sanc-
tions and the assassina-
tion of Qassim Soleimani,
the head of Iran’s Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps
in 2020 — were viewed by
the E3 as heavy-handed
and unilateral. The Biden
administration sees Vienna
as the venue for America to
“return” to the world stage
as a team player.
The ongoing negotiations
are also putting the non-
E.U. members of the P5
— Russia and China — on
notice that the U.S. is still
very much engaged with the
Middle East. Over the past
five years, both superpowers
have made substantial and
unprecedented inroads to
the region, expanding great-
ly their influence among
several countries, including
Iran.
Beijing’s recent 25 year/
$400 billion infrastructure
development pact with
Tehran furthers China’s
burgeoning Belt & Road
Initiative and gives Iran a
powerful patron to stanch
the impact of sanctions
and external threats, as the
Chinese will strive to pro-
tect their investment.
The Biden administration
seeks to counter Beijing’s
growing dominance in the
region by offering Iran what
it craves: greater access to
U.S. and Western markets
as well as recission of its
pariah status. The danger of
increased Chinese region-
al influence, in fact, was a
driving force behind the
original JCPOA, to prevent
Iran from gravitating toward
the welcoming arms of
Beijing, something, ironical-
ly, accelerated by America
leaving the agreement.
REASSERTING
INFLUENCE
Lastly, along with Russia,
China and our European
allies, the third audience
for the Vienna proceedings
is Washington’s regional
allies. The negotiations are
intended to show Israel,
Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E.
and others that America is
still firmly committed to
the region through direct
involvement instead of
outsourced and ambiguous
policies.
The U.S. was the sole
superpower in the Middle
East for over seven decades;
that is no longer the reality.
With Russian and Chinese
presence in the area,
America’s allies will seek
U.S. presence as a visible,
audible and engaged coun-
terweight, which will rely
upon non-military forms of
engagement.
Many of America’s
regional allies were high-
ly and vocally critical of
the 2015 JCPOA. Today,
reaction from the same
parties is noticeably more
muted. Israel and the Gulf
States certainly anticipated
President Biden’s reen-
gagement with Iran, being
consulted on the process
throughout. The “wait-
and-see” approach out of
Jerusalem, Riyadh and Abu
Dhabi may be seen as a real-
ization that the JCPOA was
more effective as a contain-
ment strategy of Iran than
what the past three years
have yielded.
At the same time, these
same allies are understand-
ably concerned that the U.S.
may be returning to diplo-
macy impetuously, without
preconditions on Iran, and
with the proposed lifting
of sanctions. In reality,
President Biden removed
only those sanctions deemed
“inconsistent” to the origi-
nal agreement, and that had
been enacted by the prior
administration after it with-
drew from the JCPOA. This
indicates a reset to use the
2015 accord as the starting
point to rebuild trust and
confidence among the par-
ties.
While former President
Trump’s left his pledge to
strike a comprehensive
deal with Iran unfulfilled
after withdrawing from the
JCPOA, a new deal on the
nuclear issue can serve as a
first step toward addressing
broader issues such as Iran’s
toxic rhetoric toward Israel
and its support of regional
proxies.
While no one is expect-
ing U.S. talks with Iran in
Vienna to produce miracles
or a grand bargain to fix all
the myriad conflicts and
concerns in the Middle East,
America’s rejuvenated diplo-
matic mission sends the right
message to all the important
players, both ally and adver-
sary.
The return to multilat-
eralism by way of the Iran
nuclear negotiations signals
a return to America’s tradi-
tional geopolitical role, to
the relief of a world that has
been waiting.
Saeed A. Khan is a lecturer in the
Department of Near East & Asian
Studies at Wayne State University.
his heart to see the good and love
them. The message rang so true
with me as a parent, especially in
this moment.
How many times have I been
interrupted while on a work
call, had my perfectly clean shirt
decorated by little ketchup-cov-
ered fingers or been unable to
do everything I intended to do
because some little person just
needed a dose of TLC. Yelling
only makes loud situations loud-
er; losing patience or getting
angry resolves nothing, but paus-
ing to take a deep breath and
repeat Rabbi Trenk’s mantra puts
everything back in perspective.
We are reminded that par-
enting is a privilege, and even
during those moments where
our nerves are thin and our
patience is short, especially in
those moments, we must choose
love. It will make us better, calm-
er parents and will cushion our
children with confidence and
a deeply rooted foundation in
family.
So, I have borrowed Rabbi
Trenk’s mantra and made it my
own.
I whispered his magic words
to myself that morning and
turned to my boys, “This party
made me feel so very special!
Thank you for making me so
happy.”
The boys beamed as I sat
down on the tiny chair to enjoy
their feast of Mike & Ikes and
already-sticky marshmallows.
As for the little rips and rip-
ples that the glue left behind on
my wallpaper? I still notice them
every time I’m in the room, but
now when I look at them think
to myself, “My gosh, I’m so
blessed.”
Erin Stiebel of Southfield is an educator
in the young adult division for Partners
Detroit.
US-IRAN TALKS
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