U.S., Iran Must Seize This Opportunity

The two core Iranian tracks today are evident. The first is Rouhani's outreach, his rejection of extremism, his conciliatory (and contested) comments toward Jews, and his categorical statement that, "Nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction have no place in Iran's security and defense doctrine." The second is the heavy involvement of the elite Revolutionary Guard Corps in defense of the Syrian despot, Bashar al-Assad, and the multifaceted ongoing campaign of its Quds Force commander, Qassim Suleimani, who summoned Hezbollah into Syria and fights under the broad, often murderous banner of resistance to America, Israel and the West. How Khamenei manages these two disparate currents will have a decisive bearing on whether the current U.S.-Iranian blandishments lead anywhere.