Flynt and Hillary Mann Leverett Authors, 'Going to Tehran'; Penn State Professor and American University Senior Lecturer

Demanding What You Can't Get: Obama's Gamble With the Iran Talks in Vienna

Posted: 07/10/2015 | The Huffington Post | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/flynt-and-hillary-mann-leverett/obama-iran-talks_b_7772504.html

As nuclear talks between the P5+1 and Iran in Vienna extend past yet another (largely U.S.-imposed) deadline, the dysfunctionality of the Obama administration's approach becomes increasingly apparent. Since April, when the parties announced a set of "parameters" for a final deal, senior administration officials have staked out public positions on the most important unresolved issues that, frankly, are inconsistent with what was agreed in April. These include a U.S. demand for open-ended retention of a conventional arms embargo and other aspects of the United Nations Security Council-authorized sanctions regime.
There has never been any serious prospect that these U.S. positions could actually provide bases for negotiated outcomes. Take, for example, the Obama administration's demand for open-ended retention of a conventional arms embargo and other aspects of the United Nations Security Council-authorized sanctions regime against Iran. Not only does Tehran object to this demand; Russia and China -- like the United States, veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council -- do, too.
The Obama administration defined stark stances on the future of UN sanctions and some of the other outstanding issues ostensibly to rebut charges of "weakness" from domestic opponents and to deflect criticism from traditional U.S. allies Israel and Saudi Arabia that it is "appeasing" Iran. But, if Obama and his team ultimately want to conclude a deal, they will, at some point, have to retreat from the diplomatically untenable positions they have so publicly assumed -- thereby exposing themselves to even stronger political attacks.