Obama Courting Iran for Help in Iraq Risks Backlash

By Terry Atlas Jun 17, 2014 12:00 AM ET

President Barack Obama’s outreach to Iran to help thwart Sunni militants in Iraq may upset regional allies and risk a domestic political backlash.

The U.S. began the discussion with a brief meeting yesterday between American and Iranian officials on the sidelines of talks in Vienna over Iran’s nuclear program, according to a State Department official who wasn’t permitted to be quoted by name.

The contacts may open the door for what would be the first regional security cooperation since Iran helped the U.S. take on the Taliban in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The Obama administration wants to see whether Iran, which has close ties to Iraq’s Shiite-dominated government, will support political changes to weaken the Sunni militants threatening to split apart the country.

The U.S. is trying to persuade Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to make his government more inclusive with minority Sunnis and Kurds, who have been shortchanged under his rule.

Unless Iran shows it will play a constructive role in pushing for political change, “I see talks with Iran as being counterproductive, alienating the United Arab Emirates, the Saudis and others who would see this as very threatening to them,” former U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen said in an interview yesterday on Bloomberg Television.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-17/obama-courting-iran-for-help-in-iraq-risks-backlash.html