US hopes to thwart the China-Iran alliance by backroom diplomacy

US hopes to thwart the China-Iran alliance by mixing carrots and sticks to draw Tehran into a long-term dialogue on issues of concern to the US and its allies.

More dexterous diplomacy towards Tehran should mix carrots and sticks to draw Iran into a long-term dialogue on issues of concern to the United States and its allies, according to National Interest.

The policy implication of this view--if one accepts "strategic competition" as the guiding principle on China--is that the Biden administration should "test the opposite premise" of isolating Tehran, "by restoring nuclear diplomacy, lowering regional tensions, and forging new arrangements." Crucially, to accomplish this vision, a "fast timeline" of re-joining the 2015 Iran deal is necessary--but far from sufficient, writes Lyes Mauni Jalali for the National Interest.

Earlier, Iran had completely pivoted towards its "Look to the East Policy" after the withdrawal of the US from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in May 2018 and imposition of new sanctions on Iran by Trump's Administration and after these developments Tehran lost hope to normalize relations with the West and marched eastward.

Jalali said that Iran's "Look to the East policy" strategy aims to strengthen Iran's strategic cooperation with Russia and China.

On the other hand, incentives imply a rebuke of the policy of isolation. As it relates to Iran, economic integration (primary sanction relief) and political integration, in exchange for verifiable political ends should be the guiding diplomatic principle, according to National Interest.

Iran is also a pivotal player in Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen, and has a key cultural foothold in Afghanistan, notably amongst the Dari-speaking population (Afghan dialect of Persian) including the Hazaras (Persian-speaking and of Shiite faith), chipping away at Russia's cultural dominance of Central Asia.