In AllOurMight, here, via Matt Yglesias“She (Clinton) said she is doubtful that Iran will respond to any kind of engagement and opening the hand out and reaching out to them,” said the official, who was speaking on the sidelines of an international donors’ conference for Gaza in Egypt, where Clinton held a series of bilateral meetings.
Clinton’s remarks coincide with Dennis Ross’ hiring by the State Department. His mandate is ostensibly wide-ranging, but it’s fairly obvious that he was brought on as a senior advisor on Iran.Ross has been a staunch advocate of direct, secret back-channel diplomacy with Iran, and his addition to the equation may have something to do with this leak about Secretary Clinton’s “doubts”. Her remarks could have a one-two punch of lowering expectations for success with Iran while providing a bit of political cover to begin those hush-hush conversations that Ross is so fond of. Then again, it might just all be coincidence, and not part of a larger diplomatic ploy...."
This could be right. But then again, the problem with this kind of speculation is that there’d be no way for an external observer to distinguish this approach from the approach of an administration that had just decided for some reason to abandon serious efforts at diplomacy with Iran.
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