As has been well noted, there are positive, albeit cautious, signs that Iran just may be positioning itself for constructive engagement with the West. Most notably, of course, that means with the U.S., which hasn’t had normal diplomatic relations with Iran since 1980–and the hostage crisis. Certainly the election of President Hassan Rouhani–as much of a Mahmoud Ahmadinejab antithesis as Iranian politics will permit–is encouraging. And then there are the tea leaves to be read. Rouhani and President Barack Obama have spoken on the phone. The Iranians have released political prisoners. And the Iranian leadership not only acknowledged the holocaust but sent Rosh Hashana greetings to Jews worldwide via Twitter.
But here’s another hint of hope: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Jayad Zarif. He’s hardly a “Great Satan” rhetorician. In fact, he’s Rouhani’s go-to guy with America. He recently had well-chronicled, direct–as in face-to-face–contact with Secretary of State John Kerry. Moreover, the affable Zarif, 53, is fluent in English and U.S. educated. He has BS and MS degrees in International Affairs from the State University of San Francisco and a doctorate in law and international relations from the University of Denver. He’s known inside the Beltway.
A further sign that Iran is upping the ante on showing that it actually cares what America thinks is seeing Zarif, Iran’s former UN ambassador, making the rounds of Sunday morning political talk shows. He did ABC’s This Week last Sunday. But, no, don’t look for Zarif to be emulating former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who appeared on the The Daily Show with Jon Stewart–more than once.