10 | APRIL 22 • 2021 

PURELY COMMENTARY

JUST LOVE THEM! 
continued from page 4

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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