Why America Needs an Interests Section in Iran

National interest

By Morad Ghorban

The one-year anniversary of the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) provides us with an opportunity to debate what the final six months of the Obama Administration should bring to Iran policy. This next period is of deep import, as it will create a new baseline for the incoming President.

However, the current terms of the debate about Iran policy are too narrow to create a different baseline from the current JCPOA-centric status quo. This current moment has been framed as a debate over how to cement the nuclear deal while ensuring that Iran’s other activities are curtailed. But this frame does not allow for the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that enabled us to reach a nuclear deal in the first place. As a result, it limits potential initiatives that, paradoxically, can actually help us to achieve our national interests.

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