Iranian Election

Michael Singh: Foreign Policy Magazine
Excerpt from Will Iran's election produce change we can believe in?

It is vital to keep in mind that Iran’s presidential elections are not about the United States. As with elections everywhere, foreign policy will be only one element of voters’ decisions, and it will likely take a back seat to more pressing economic and social issues. Thus, while the results will have consequences for the United States, Washington should not fall prey to solipsism by reading them simplistically as a referendum on bilateral relations.

In that vein, the results of the elections should not be allowed to affect U.S. policy toward Iran. We do not have the luxury of choosing our Iranian interlocutors, despite the oft-stated recommendation that we negotiate only with the Supreme Leader’s staff and bypass the other organs of Iranian government. We should likewise take care not to fall into the trap of allowing Iran’s own choice of interlocutor to dictate our policy. If one of Ahmadinejad’s challengers is victorious, he should be given a blank slate, but the Iranian regime should not. The United States and its allies can ill afford any delay or slackening of pressure with the possibility of a nuclear-armed Iran looming ever closer.

In his own pursuit of the presidency, Barack Obama campaigned on the themes of hope and change. While the challengers in Iran’s presidential elections similarly inspire hope among the Iranian people, they have little ability to deliver the sort of change sought by the United States. Whatever the outcome on Friday, the U.S. message to Iran’s leaders should be simple: we honor not the trappings of democracy but the free exercise of it, and we will judge you not by your words but by your actions.