Why Pezeshkian and Biden are uniquely qualified to revive US-Iran ties

With US President Joe Biden no longer seeking a second term in office, could this be the time for a bold foreign policy move? It may be far-fetched, but there is no harm in releasing a flight of fancy into the universe. There may be kernels of wisdom within.

If you are a leader not seeking re-election and looking to leave a legacy, it may never be too late to go for broke. Mr Biden still has the will to make significant things happen.

Iran is about to inaugurate a new, relatively moderate president. Masoud Pezeshkian is a heart surgeon, who occasionally smiles and has promised not to crack down on women for their dress. He may be just an extension of Iran’s oppressive system, but with Iran the jury is always out, and for some hope dies last.

Mr Biden was elected four years ago with the task of restoring a sense of civility and order to America, a country that sadly remains riven by disunity and violence. Still, say what you will about Mr Biden – and opinions abound – he embodies decency and the values most Americans at least profess to embrace. Many believe he brought the US back from an abyss.

Against all this, I segue to posit that tragedy is a great equaliser. Mr Biden lost his first wife Neilia and his first-born daughter Naomi in a car accident in 1972. His son Beau succumbed to brain cancer in 2015.

Dr Pezeshkian lost his wife and one of his children in a car accident more than 30 years ago. He never got himself the equivalent of a Jill Biden, a second wife. He reportedly decided to remain completely dedicated to his surviving children without the distractions (and support) of a new love.

Both men pushed through their grief and went on to climb to the highest elected posts in the land. Both are facing a world of strife with few easy answers and no end to conflict. They are presidents of each other’s adversaries.

Would a quiet meeting between them right now, in Oman, for example, or Switzerland, without cameras or delegations, just a few neutral interpreters, not be a wild idea worth considering?

Let the heart surgeon and the man who is said to have plenty of heart speak frankly, with no mandate to come back with deliverables other than fresh ideas to explore. Could they embrace privately and share their personal stories of loss and acknowledge that the world is hungry for peace and life is too short to wait for it any longer?

It is said that there is room for reinvention in foreign policy as it is widely acknowledged that America is no longer the world’s unchallenged superpower. And despite Mr Biden’s poor public appearances of recent weeks, his grasp of foreign policy remains solid.

Dr Pezeshkian has, perhaps rightly, been dismissed by many, both in Iran and abroad, as little more than steam release for a pot that intermittently appears ready to blow. He may be a “reformer”, but he is a man of the system and supports the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ultimately leads the country.

Yet he has in some ways the “right stuff” to make a difference. His mother was a Kurd and his father Azeri, and Iran’s ethnic minority problems are never far from the turbulent surface of the country’s political landscape.

The exiled former Iranian diplomat Mehrdad Khonsari is producing white papers on a programme for national reconciliation, and he thinks solving the issue of ethnic discrimination is a key component.

“We need to convey the notion that all Iranians, irrespective of their ethnic or religious backgrounds, are equal shareholders in Iran PLC,” he said.

Dr Pezeshkian has acknowledged the importance of this issue, too. And the leader of Iranian Balochistan has effectively told him to put his tomans where his mouth is and get it done.

There is so much more Dr Pezeshkian could do for his country.

Meanwhile, Mr Biden needs the Palestinian issue resolved, and fast. While the Iranian government is not trusted by everyone, what would be the harm in getting its off-camera, off-the-record input on this problem?

Let’s not forget there was a lost-in-translation “grand bargain” two decades ago, put forth by the very reformists Dr Pezeshkian represents, in which the issue of Iran recognising Israel was on the table. That, if a real possibility, could have been the key to unlocking something huge. Perhaps quietly, Dr Pezeshkian has something to offer on this issue today, as Houthi bombs continue to fall and Hezbollah flexes muscle.

If someone who has taken the Hippocratic Oath is not moved to act after the deaths of tens of thousands of mostly Palestinians but Israelis, too, then who is?

I have been to Iran eight times and was always with an official minder, but I found the anti-Israel rhetoric there to be similar to the anti-America rhetoric. It has a rent-a-crowd feel. Small demonstrations. Deceiving camera angles. I found, off-camera, enormous respect for Jews as people. And for Americans, too. I estimate the haters and flag-burners on the streets of Tehran in my presence never numbered more than a couple hundred, many of whom were said to have been bussed in, in a city of close to 10 million.

The Abraham Accords were a bold and impressive first step to economic integration for the Middle East. Iran should be part of the regional integration that these accords envisage. Technology, water, natural resources – what the region has to offer needs to be shared among all to be maximally effective.

Of course, Mr Khamenei calls the shots and presumably loathes America and Israel. But if there is a national reconciliation programme on the table somewhere out there, couldn’t he be convinced to at least give it a read-through? He has to understand that his government has faced a number of stresses and strains in recent years.

Donald Trump shouldn’t be the only outside-of-box thinker brave or crazy enough to extend invitations to adversaries. Some day, it just might work.