Ambassador Dennis Ross on "Iran and the West"

TAI and the German Marshall Fund co-hosted a briefing with Ambassador Dennis Ross for a select audience of Members of the European Parliament, EU and NATO officials as well as high-ranking diplomats. Ambassador Ross, who has served as Middle East advisor to U.S. presidents since George H. W. Bush, gave his insights into American policy on Iran and the regime's nuclear program.

Ambassador Ross compared Iran’s current situation to that of 2009, when Iran was a country on the march in the region. It had a high degree of self-confidence, able to cope with pressures from outside. However, the Iranian regime has begun to lose its leverage in the region, and in fact has never found itself so isolated before. 

As it relates to the international community's reaction to Iran's nuclear ambitions, Ambassador Ross remarked that the possibility for a negotiated outcome is closer than ever. The signals are there, with Iran engaging itself to the Russian step-by-step approach and the IAEA’s recent visit to Tehran.

Discussion and participants’ remarks focused on the consequences for the international community and its efforts to resolve the crisis over Iran nuclear ambitions. Concerns were raised about the possibility of the talks failing, and what such a situation would mean for the U.S.-EU relationship in particular.

(Text Credit: German Marshall Fund)