America! Your move

Talking helps

I am no sage nor do I prognosticate, but word reaches me from the BBC that the president of Iran has written to the president of the United States.

The Swiss embassy represents the interests of the United States in Iran and this said letter has been passed through the ambassador of Switzerland in Iran to be forwarded to the United States.

This, it appears is the first time that communications have been initiated at such a high diplomatic level between the two countries in three decades.

I alluded to the concern that presidents in dispute do not exhaust the opportunity to have a heart-to-heart discussion [Mayday!], but then, I was thinking of the United States taking the initiative.

Magnanimous Iran –a welcome contradiction

Magnanimous and Iran might seem alien in the same sentence to many, but I can only commend the Iranians for subscribing to the humanity of communication rather than the bluster of belligerence.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a difficult man to listen to, but I cannot fault the logic of the many unpalatable statements he has made. A trail of hard truths are embedded in the diatribes; we ignore them to our peril.

American hegemony in the global context is becoming a cause for great concern; the lumbering super-power giant has not cottoned on the use of soft power to resolve intractable disputes.

That America and Iran have not spoken for 30 years should give all great cause for concern. That proxies do so much to ramp up the rhetoric of war should give every well-meaning person greater cause of concern, if not despair.

For now, the White House has denied the receipt of this letter, but it would do well for America and the world to ensure that the president does read and understand whatever the contents of the letter are.

Magnanimous America – a maturing behemoth

It would be magnanimous for the Americans to grace that letter with a respectable reply and resist the temptation to point-score in willing to press home an advantage that does nothing for global peace.

The willingness to communication is the willingness to appreciate other views and work out an understanding based on some acceptable compromise.

In my book, Barely-Nuclear Iran is playing a big-boy’s game of diplomacy that now gives them the high moral ground. America! Your move!