Currently in Syria, a multi-sided war is going on. Which side is Israel's least-worst enemy ? If it comes down to a choice between al-Qa'ida affiliates and Assad, horrible as it may be, Israel could not possibly support the Islamists ? It would surely have to go for Assad ? Sometimes politics is stinking and ghastly, but there you go.

Iran is Assad's staunchest ally, and Hezbollah's. Hypothetically, what benefits might accrue to Iran if Israel, through the back channels, acted to support Assad, say in the Golan Heights ? What benefits might accrue to Israel if Iran pulled Hezbollah back and toned down its hostility ?

On the other hand, Netanyahu could punch himself in the face, Monty Python-like, that might feel good too. But let's get real, in a horrible, real world.

Joe

Congratulations to OLO for publishing this article. It takes courage to fly in the face of the existing pro-Israel, nuke-Iran propaganda machine.

OLO is truly an international forum despite some of the parochial Flat Earthers who infest some of its comment pages.

Talking is far better than dropping nukes!

One of these days patience will run out & the only possible détente with Tehran will be displayed by carpet bombing the place with very powerfully armed cruise missiles.

Not only Tehran, but the rest of the Arab, & Muslim worlds will understand this type of discussion, & detent will reign. Even terrorist bombing will cease, provided other such countries realise there are plenty of missiles left, & some are targeted on them.

Any other form of discussion with these people is merely an attempt by them to avoid the retribution they so richly deserve.

The only diplomacy that has ever worked is gunboat diplomacy. He who negotiates from total power wins the negotiation, & what other point is there in negotiation.

Hasbeen by name and a has-been by nature. 'Nuff said.
But to get real, the opening of a dialogue between Iran and the US is one of them most positive developments in middle-eastern affairs in many a long year. Of course the Israeli right will seek to sabotage it. That's how they are wired, and it will take regime change in Jerusalem before anything resembling a rational approach to local affairs will emerge from that war-besotted land.
The question of who is pissing in the omelette in the US is another matter. Finally Obama is showing some of the promise for which he was entrusted with high office, and the Republicans are going mad with envy. Witness the current shutting down of the nation over a bill that is already law and has passed thru the legal challenges all the way up to and including the Supreme Court. I am referring to Obamacare, as they like to refer to the first universal health care system ever given legs in that sad country.
And then of course there are the rabid US-based Zionists, arguably traitors to both their country (the US) and to their religion (Judaism). Someday the world will stop listening to them, and won't that be a glorious day when it comes!
One point about who Netanyahu would prefer in Damascus: I've lost the reference, but recently he went on record saying that for Israel the mad jihadists were preferable to Assad because Assad was in league with Iran and Hezbollah. What he seems intellectually and ideologically incapable of grasping is that an Iran at peace with the West would no longer pose a threat to Israel, and could well act to restrain both Assad and Hezbollah. And if he dealt fairly with Syria on the occupied Golan, Assad would no longer be a worry. Ditto for Hezbollah and Lebanon. The man is quite mad, and Israel would do well to replace him.

I believe the west's patience with an endlessly sabre rattling Netenyahu is already exhausted?
He, I believe, more than any other Middle East leader, has effectively scuttled the peace process and the two state solution!
I'm not all that sure he has much real support in an exasperated America, or by American Jewry, who have so much of their money invested in Israeli enterprise; and as a consequence, now have the most to lose!?
By building a wall, and continuing to build settlements on the other side of the border, Netenyahu has killed the peace process!
The chance for a two state solution has passed, with the only prospect in play for Palestine and Palestinians, Israeli democracy, a single state and the ballot box!
Given, in a comparatively short space of time; Palestinian voters, will outnumber Jewish voters, to effectively control Israel and her powerful army/military arsenal!
Hence the push to encourage more Jewish immigration and the endless expansion of the new extremely militant settlements. With the immigrating sons and daughters of Jacob, stealing land from the resident sons and daughters of Jacob!
Even so, that land grab supported by military might alone, can only ever go so far! And could eventually and progressively be almost entirely reversed?
They could however, chose a truth and reconciliation outcome to end the unrest for all time, or just go on with the endless recriminations, revenge and eye for an eye reprisals, which along with a massively revised Koran, is arguably the core root of most of the TROUBLES in the Middle East today?
I would hate to think this can only ever end in a nuclear Holocaust; but fear, that without real change and a genuine desire on all sides for enduring peace, there is little other, FINAL SOLUTION prospects?
Rhrosty.

The real truth is that the state of Israel was conceived and financed by the Rothschilds, the most powerful family on the planet. With 200 + nukes, they can threaten any country and get their own way.

The ordinary people of Israel are nothing more than debt serfs like us. The Zionists want to control the planet using the USA/Europe as their tool.It is all about controlling the money supply, energy,media and resources.

Have you heard of the New World Order?

If Iran was sponsoring terrorist groups who stated aim was the total destruction of the Commonwealth of Australia, and if those terrorists were shooting rockets every day into Australian cities with the express purpose of killing our civilians, then you can bet that Australia would be making "negative statements" about Iran too.

My take is that the Mullahs in Iran are in trouble. Their economy is stagnant, the young people are restless, and their client state in Assad's Syria is in danger of falling. If Assad goes, this will reduce their capacity to wage a proxy war on Israel. They need to get the Euros and the yanks to withdraw their economic sanctions, and they think that holding out a false olive branch will get our weak and vacillating politicians to do that.

If it works and the economic sanctions are withdrawn, that should help their economy a lot and buy them more time to build a nuclear weapon that they can give to Hezbollah for peaceful purposes.

LEGO it is all BS. The USA is the most powerful country on the planet by far. They have 800 bases around the planet and have the most weapons. Syria and Iran are pimples on the backside of a US elephant.

Russia and China have realised that they will be next in the domino fall caused by US imperialism. This is why WW3 is staring us in the face. So get real and start confronting the truth.

>>Groups inside Israel as well as the Israeli lobby in the United States are trying to hamper a possible détente between Tehran and Washington.>>

Well Iran's real dictator, Khamenei doesn't seem too happy either.

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/05/20830551-khamenei-praises-rouhanis-un-visit-but-says-some-behavior-not-correct?lite

On the other hand things have not gone well for Iran lately. The thought of a Saudi aligned regime in Syria must scare the pants off them as must the resurgence of Saudi-aligned Sunni militias in Iraq.

Their cats paw in Lebanon,Hezbollah, has suffered a rude decline in prestige. Most Lebanese do not want to be dragged into wars, be it with Syria or Israel, because Hezbollah's paymasters in Tehran say they must.

The economy is in the toilet. Oil production is down from what it was in the days of the Shah and they're having difficulty selling even that. New pipelines and oil terminals mean that Saudi Arabia and the other Sunni ruled Gulf States will shortly be able to bypass the Straits of Hormuz neutralising Iran's greatest strategic weapon.

And their standing in the "Arab Street" has plummeted.

Above all their main raison detre for for building nukes, Saddam Hussein, is long gone.

My own feeling is that many in Iran might be saying their best course of action is to re-establish their alliance with the US and - dare I say it - Israel.

Hi Steven,

Yes, it's unthinkable and abhorrent, but on the opportunist, but sensible, principle that one's second -worst enemy is better than one's worst enemy, is it possible that the US and Iran may seek a detente, given that their mutual worst enemy is the Islamists, al-Nusra, al-Qa'ida etc. ?

And is it possible that that may mean a rapprochement between the US and Assad ? And, by extension, a rapprochement between the Israelis and Assad ? Would that isolate Hamas or what ?

i.e. a loose coalition between the US, Syria's Assad, Iran, the Russians and Hezbollah, lined up against the Islamists across the region. Bleccchhh !

Politics can sometimes be a ghastly business, choosing between evils.

Of course, if the above scenario ever plays out, the sticking point for the Yanks would be how to soothe the aspirations of the Saudis. Perhaps oodles of non-military aid.

Bring on the genuine Islamic revolution !

Joe

Loudmouth,

I'm not sure that the US and Iran are still "enemies." What have they got to fight about now?

For that matter what do Israel and Iran have to fight about now?

Please don't tell me the Iranian regime is concerned for the welfare of the Palestinians. Those thugs don't give a rodent's rectum about the Palestinians. It was all grandstanding to gain street cred in the Arab world and counter the influence of their real strategic rival, Saudi Arabia. However that initiative seems to be in tatters.

Iran and Israel used to do business in the days of the Shah who, I assure you, was no more fond of Jews than the mullahs. But he was pragmatic.

For that matter the mullahs did business with the Israelis during the Iran-Iraq war when they needed spare parts for their air force.

Probably the biggest obstacle to a rapprochement with the US is the mullahs own feelings of insecurity. It's a corrupt thuggish regime that has diminishing legitimacy. Any reform movement could easily get out of control and see them lose their privileged position.

And make no mistake, the mullahs do very well out of the status quo.

Hi Steven,

I fully agree. Complete agreement between all parties may not come next week, maybe the week after :)

But who are the worst enemies of the US in the region ? The Islamists, right ?

Who are the worst, most dangerous, most insidious, enemies of the Iranian 'thugs' and reactionaries ? The Islamists, right ?

Who are currently the most dangerous enemies of the Assad dictatorship ? The Islamists, right ?

Who, out of a huge vast range of enemies, is Israel's worst enemies in the region ? Ultimately, the Islamists, is that so ?

So win-win-win ! The US and Israel hop into bed with Iran and Assad, even with Hezbollah. The major problem might be the jilted Saudis who are happy to be in bed, getting it from both the Islamists, despite all their protests of innocence, and the US, at the same time. So can they be schmoozed ?

Joe