Oil deal Haliburton and Iran
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The latest instance of the "engage Iran" school is a US advocacy group dominated by prominent figures of the Republican Party, the Committee on the Present Danger (CPD), which, in a paper titled "Iran: A New Approach" calls for the re-opening of diplomatic relations with Tehran, bringing to an end the 25-year estrangement in US-Iran relations following the hostage crisis in the American embassy in Tehran in 1979, shortly after the Islamic revolution of that year. CPD is co-chaired by the former US secretary of state George Schultz and former director of the Central Intelligence Agency James Woolsey. Indeed, the Bush administration has all but piped down its rhetoric over Iran lately.
But Iran seems to be seeking some transparency over the Bush administration's intentions. Certainly, the deal over South Pars will be profitable for Texas-based Halliburton. But Iranians do not want to be treated as a one-night stand by the Bush administration either. They would seek a more predictable, enduring, mutually beneficial relationship with the US - indeed, they always wanted it.
Washington's reaction to the media "leak" in Tehran two days back will be keenly watched. The (multi) million-dollar question is whether the Halliburton deal constitutes the first meaningful step of a concerted American diplomatic effort to engage Iran constructively. The initial reaction among the American strategic community is that there's some kind of a "dance" going on here.
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Far better that stupid axis of evil rhetoric.