Time to Talk

There have been many unforgettable speeches to the United Nations. Who can forget the drama created by Nikita Khrushchev, Fidel Castro, Yasser Arafat or Hugo Chavez? Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad isn't in that league. His mixture of arrogance, obstinacy, aggression and zealotry is too predictable, and not even the intended targets take his attacks seriously. Certainly not the American public, whose eyes Ahmadinejad had wanted to open.

But the US and Europe also wasted an opportunity to take the wind out of Ahmadinejad's sails. Columbia University showed courage in inviting him to speak but undermined that bravery by introducing him as a "narrow-minded dictator."

And that was the basic tenor at the United Nations General Assembly. George W. Bush didn't refer to Iran in his speech and didn't attend Ahmadinejad's. Instead Bush relied on French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to push America's line on Iran.

The French president tried -- unsuccessfully -- to dispel the impression that Paris accepts an attack on Iraq as a possibility. The German chancellor meanwhile advanced the legally and politically untenable position that the world doesn't have to prove Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, but rather that Iran must convince the world its intentions are peaceful. President Bush was no doubt satisfied that his common front against Tehran looks more solid than ever.

But appearances are deceiving. When the topic of new sanctions is next broached, the nations of Europe are likely to react differently -- depending on the extent to which their economic interests are connected to Iran. It's easy for Washington to say sanctions should be toughened because the US doesn't officially do business with Iran. Germany has already restricted its exports, but there's no sign of France adopting a similar policy toward Tehran.

Is it clever of the West to accuse Iran of something that cannot be proven? That strategy only serves to provoke Ahmadinejad, leading him to divide the world into good and evil, arrogant oppressors and victims. And a hardening of the fronts is in no one's interest -- neither the West's nor Iran's.

It may be tactically clever for Iran to declare the debate "closed," to reiterate the claim that its nuclear program is peaceful and to insist that further discussions be held within the International Atomic Energy Agency.

But this is not the way to solve the conflict. If all sides are truly interested in finding a solution, they'll have to come up with something better.


Peter Philipp is DW's chief correspondent (jc).