At Open Democracy, Trita Parsi writes: There are three ways war between US and Iran can begin: through a deliberate decision by either Washington, Tehran or Tel Aviv; through a naval incident in the Persian Gulf that escalates out of control; or through the gradual elimination of all other policy options – the dead end path to war.

Of these three, it is the last one that is most worrisome and likely.

The Obama administration is not seeking war with Iran. Obama’s push back against the Netanyahu Government’s campaign for war with Iran and the harsh statements from the US military against such reckless adventurism demonstrates this lack of desire for war.

While neoconservative elements within the US foreign policy elite may differ, they remain dangerous but are in minority. A very timely report published by the Iran Project last week showed that the center of the US foreign policy establishment not only opposes war, it views it as a grave mistake.

The report was signed by close to 30 prominent foreign policy hands in Washington, including former National Security Advisers Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft, former Undersecretary of State Thomas Pickering, president of the Ploughshares Foundation Joe Cirincione, and former chairman of the Federal Reserve bank, Paul Volcker. [Continue reading…]