Roguely Stated

The Formalities
Fortunately for President Bush, Monday’s white-tie dinner with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip comes with an etiquette guide. General rules include waiting for the Queen to extend her hand, the proper curtsy for women, and the unpalatable custom that once the Queen is finished eating, the meal is complete for all. While President Bush’s aversion for formalities is widely known, it appears that the Bush Administration is beginning to understand an important lesson: diplomacy often requires being uncomfortable.

The assigned seating at this past weekend’s 60 nation summit proved to be equally awkward. While the white-tie dinner has been billed as the social event of the administration, Secretary Rice’s attendance at the Sharm El-Sheikh conference provided a rare opportunity for high-level US diplomatic engagement with Iran. Seated intentionally within talking distance at Thursday’s lunch, Rice and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki managed only simple pleasantries.

With no formal meetings planned between the two officials, Rice planned on approaching Mottaki at Thursday’s dinner to demand that Iran stop supplying arms to Shiite Muslims to attack US forces. When Rice arrived, Mottaki was nowhere to be found; later Iranian officials explained that Mottaki’s early departure was due to an entertainer’s revealing red dress, not Secretary Rice’s attendance.

It would be false to say that the conference failed to produce any diplomatic exchanges between the US delegation and Iranian officials. Ryan Crocker, US ambassador to Iraq, and David Satterfield, senior advisor to Rice on Iraq, met briefly with an Iranian deputy foreign minister. This brief meeting, lasting approximately thirty minutes, focused primarily on Iraq, according to Iranian officials. The meeting, however, was dismissed by Mottaki, saying “there was no formal meeting between Iranian experts and American experts. If there were some exchanges and discussions, this doesn’t mean a formal meeting between experts.” Bush administration officials failed to comment on the substance of the meeting.

The Need for New Rules
How the US should proceed post-Sharm El-Sheikh is as important as the missed opportunities at the table. Mottaki, in an interview this past week with Time, expressed his country’s desire to talk with the Americans on Iran’s terms. Mottaki defended Iran’s legitimacy to enrich uranium and called US claims that weapons are crossing the Iranian-Iraqi border as “baseless.” For Rice, however, the enrichment issue is a non-starter. Rice states “we have no desire to have difficult relations with anyone in Iran. We are prepared to change 27 years of policy and engage in a broad range of issues” with Iran if Iran accepts international demands that it suspend its nuclear enrichment program. Pass the salt please; this is clearly not material for a casual dinner conversation with friends.

The Bush Administration must consider a new rule book for Iran. The Iranian leadership, particularly Mottaki and Ahmadinejad, have been capricious in how they view their future relationship with the US and Europe. However, the stark reality is that the US needs Iran’s cooperation to be successful in Iraq. Iran’s footprint and image as a regional hegemon continues to grow. The Bush rule book prior to recent diplomatic engagements has been to isolate those that are not in harmonious agreement with the administration. In order for Iraq’s borders to be secured, the Iranian nuclear issue to be addressed, and the region continue to be engaged in Iraq’s progress, the US may have to make an exception to previous rules.

The new rule book must be able to transcend seating charts and formalities; the administration must be able to prepare something beyond pleasantries and without relying on appropriate dress codes. Secretary Rice must do what President Bush is doing tomorrow for Queen Elizabeth; be a gracious partner, follow a new set of rules (even if they seem unreasonable), and seize opportunities before they pass.

Tags: Ahmadinejad, Bush, Iran, Iraq, Mottaki, Rice, Sharm El-Sheikh
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