IND:  For the past three decades, successive Republican and Democratic administrations alike tried to moderate Iran’s foreign policies either by threatening Iran with military strikes and economic sanctions or engaging Tehran with offers of trade and diplomatic cooperation – all to no avail.  They failed because focusing on Iran’s foreign policies addresses the symptoms of the problem and not the problem itself which is Iran’s domestic policy.  As such, articles like this  are quite helpful because they point to the right direction by focusing on Iran’s domestic policies.

The Obama administration shouldn’t give up on embattled Iranian democrats. Here’s how America can help the Green Revolution succeed.

Western diplomats can draw on experience learned in Kiev to help the “green movement” in Tehran…Diplomacy helped transform the next election into a matter of international, not just domestic, concern. This should be a key goal in Iran.

…European Commission President José Manuel Barroso could meanwhile rally governments represented in Brussels to support a meaningful diplomatic initiative, which includes a discussion of election legitimacy. As Iran’s largest trading partner, with some $35 billion in trade last year, the European Union has considerable economic influence over Tehran. European leaders can also seek the involvement of countries like Jordan, Turkey, and the Gulf states in a dialogue with Tehran.

There is one political obstacle in all of this: Conventional wisdom holds that discussing Iranian governance would only complicate ongoing nuclear-related negotiations. But history shows the opposite can be true. Some of the West’s greatest strides in arms control with the former Soviet Union, for example, came in the 1980s, when the West was pushing the country hardest on human rights issues.