shunning of anyone considered to be "not on the team," an unyielding mission to dominate opponents totally -- "winning is not enough" -- disdain for those considered to be weak, and the belief that "empathy can cost you the win."

A judicious engagement policy will require patience and must begin with a fundamental shift in the style and content of American diplomacy. The breakthrough in American-Chinese relations during the Nixon administration followed such a course. Beijing responded favorably to engagement only after two years of unilateral American gestures. As part of a similar effort toward Iran, the Unites States should try to create a more suitable environment for diplomacy by taking actions that gradually breach the walls of mistrust.

Washington can begin by ending its provocative naval deployments in the Persian Gulf, easing its efforts to get European and Asian banks to divest from Iran and inviting Iranian representatives to all regional and international conferences dealing with the Middle East. Along this path, the language of American diplomacy would also have to alter. The administration cannot propose negotiations while castigating Iran as part of an "axis of evil" or the "central banker of terrorism" and forming a regional alliance to roll back Iranian influence.

Once a more suitable environment has been created, the United States should propose dialogue without conditions with the aim of normalizing relations. For too long, proposed talks with Iran have focused on areas of American concern: nuclear proliferation and Iraq. A more comprehensive platform would involve the totality of disagreements between the two countries and also address Iran's regional interests.

...it has now emerged that his family, including his wife, are safe in Tehran and desperately waiting for news on the whereabouts of the former IRGC commander. Asgari's wife even ... [said] that she believes her husband was kidnapped by American intelligence in Istanbul.

The assault on the consulate in Erbil and the kidnapping of Jalal Sharafi follow U.S. President George Bush's warning on 10 January that American forces had been instructed to seek out and destroy Iranian intelligence networks in Iraq. However, if Ali Reza Asgari has indeed been kidnapped by American agents, this would signal a significant escalation in the American campaign against Iran. It is going well beyond psychological warfare and appears to be a global campaign targeting specific Iranian intelligence assets in key locations.

Despite the rhetoric from Tehran, Iran's mismanaged economy is vulnerable to international pressure. President Ahmadinejad was elected to improve the economy and eradicate corruption, not to pursue an antagonistic foreign policy towards large parts of the world. On 4 December 2006 the Iranian parliament, the Majlis, voted overwhelmingly to cut short his term in office by more than a year by holding the presidential elections alongside the upcoming parliamentary ones. Moreover, opponents of Ahmadinejad were successful in the local elections of 15 December 2006. Moderate conservatives opposed to him won a majority of the seats, followed by reformists ousting ultra-conservatives loyal to him. The results were widely seen as a response by the Iranian electorate to the President's constant power struggle with major international forces.

In January 2007, in an unprecedented action against a sitting president, 150 of the 290 members of the Majlis signed a letter blaming Ahmadinejad for raging inflation and high unemployment, and criticizing his travel abroad at time when he was due to present the Majlis with a draft budget for the coming fiscal year. All this indicates that Iran's political system is more responsive to engagement with the world than is believed by many in the international community, especially in the US and Israel.