Many analysts and politicians have responded to Hassan Rouhani's victory in Iran's presidential elections with concern -- that a more moderate Iranian figurehead may reduce international pressure even in the absence of any substantial change in Iranian policy, and that Rouhani may engage in negotiations designed to drag out for eternity, in order to distract from continued nuclear activity on the ground.
Whether or not these fears are justified with respect to Rouhani, they are a precise description of another item dominating the regional agenda: the Middle East peace process.
I've written an article to this effect at Le Monde Diplomatique. It concludes:
In the wake of Rouhani’s election, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been particularly forceful in urging the international community to maintain pressure on Iran and avoid "drawn out" negotiations that simply allow Iran to "gain time". For its part the US has been clear that, as a National Security Council spokesperson put it this week, "the window for diplomacy is not open indefinitely". "We are open to negotiation", Secretary of State John Kerry has explained, but "not an open-ended, endless negotiation". Both the US and Israel are well aware of the risk of dialogue being used as a fig-leaf to enable destructive behaviour. They should know.
Read the rest here.
I was unable to fit the following quote by Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya'alon into the piece, but it's a good'un:
"...the Iranians feel that they can advance in their nuclear program without paying the price, hence they must not be allowed to evade a decision. Only a combination of pressures – sanctions, diplomatic isolation and a credible military option – can result in progress in a diplomatic channel."
When it comes to Iran, Ya'alon argues that diplomacy
in the absence of material international pressure will be fruitless. Israeli officials recognise that the same is true when it comes to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations -- which is why
they fiercely resist, with US backing, all attempts by Palestinians, the EU and others to invoke international law and international institutions to provide a basis for, and exert pressure to achieve, a resolution of the conflict.