Iran: New Middle East Power

ByABC News via logo
August 5, 2006, 8:26 AM

Aug. 5, 2006— -- Heaving demonstrations in support of Hezbollah and against Israel have become daily events in Iran. Sometimes, the demonstrations turn violent.

On Friday, protesters attacked the British embassy. A group of young men participating in the demonstration volunteered to become suicide-bombers.

Hezbollah volunteer tents at the demonstration were mostly for show. The Iranian government is not letting any of its citizens go to Israel or Lebanon now. But Iranian military support for Hezbollah that concerns U.S. and Israeli officials, and some experts say that the United States needs to change the way it deals with Iran.

The U.S. refuses to engage in diplomacy with Iran, which the government says sponsors terrorism.

"Well, look at what Kissinger did in opening up China," said Vali Nasr, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, "Or what Reagan did with Gorbachev. That wasn't appeasement. That was engagement. He still called the Soviet Union an evil empire, but that didn't prevent him from engaging the Russians and trying to get somewhere with them diplomatically. So if there are changes I would recommend, I would say, engage."

Nasr believes that refusing to engage in diplomacy with Iran will damage the U.S. legacy in the Middle East.

"What's needed is new thinking," he said. "What Bush stood for was the belief that all you needed was a superior military and you could just remake political reality wherever you wanted, whenever you wanted.

"That belief is now completely defeated," he added. "You can't bully people when they aren't afraid of you. We've lost our political capital. We've lost our allies. We've lost the street. Now the only thing to do is stop digging an even bigger hole for ourselves."

U.S. and Israeli officials believe Iran has supplied Hezbollah with thousands of missiles, from the short-range Katyusha rockets to more sophisticated, long-range guided missiles like the one that disabled an Israeli warship, and others which might hit the heart of Israel, Tel Aviv.