"The system in the Islamic republic belongs to the Iranian people.. warts, flaws & all, it’s theirs .. Its foreign policy, its policy decisions are independent..."

"... Ms. LEVERETT: And there’s a really important distinction that I think is routinely missed in Washington – that the Islamic republic, the system in the Islamic republic, it belongs to the people of the Islamic republic of Iran. Warts and all, flaws and all, it’s their system. It’s an independent system. Its foreign policy, its policy decisions are independent.
So with all of the criticisms that you have within the Islamic republic and for all the – many of the people inside Iran want the system to evolve in different ways, they want it to be their system, and they want it to continue to be the Islamic republic. That is completely different, completely the opposite of nearly every other state in the region.
RAZ: What if what emerges in the Middle East, throughout the Middle East is a collection of essentially, non-aligned states – you know, governments with no interest in serving as proxies or pawns, you know, in a strategic struggle between the U.S. and Iran?
Mr. LEVERETT: If that happens – and I think we are very much headed in that direction already – the United States is going to have to get serious about a skill that it has really allowed to atrophy for several decades.
RAZ: Which is?
Mr. LEVERETT: Which I would call classical diplomacy: the ability to align with multiple states, you know; find areas of common interest; play those to build relationships; and manage the areas where there are going to be very, very strong disagreements.
This is not the way the United States is used to dealing with the Middle East. We really function as a kind of hegemonic power in this region. That is just not going to be tenable anymore. And the United States is going to have to have a much more creative, adaptive, strategically grounded foreign policy in this part of the world than it’s had for a long time."