Oh, Please

Writing in the Washington Post, Jackson Diehl informs us that in an off the record remark an Iranian official wants the American president to follow the example of Richard Nixon going to China.

In the middle of a tirade about the pointlessness of talking with the Bush administration, a senior Iranian official I met in Tehran last month abruptly paused and asked if he could speak off the record. Then he said: "What we need is an American president who will follow the example of Richard Nixon going to China."

There in a nutshell is what this Iranian government, and most Iranians I've spoken to, fervently desire from the United States: not the tactical talks offered last week by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice but strategic recognition of Iran as a great civilization and a regional power that must be treated, like China, as a "stakeholder" in global affairs. Grant us that, said the Iranian official I saw, and "just as with China, you'll find a government that is more responsive to your concerns, more willing to play a cooperative role."

And there you have it in a nutshell, indeed. Iran believes itself to be a regional power. Furthermore they fully believe they deserve to be one. If I were Iran's neighbor, I'd be getting very nervous right about now.