Many Middle East analysts believe the report signals that the US is shifting from its combative approach toward Tehran, which has bedeviled Washington’s diplomatic and democracy-building efforts across the region. This situation has turned more precarious because of Iran’s brinkmanship and dismay at Washington’s perceived weakness by Arab allies over US policy failures. Arab capitals blame the Bush administration for the continued bloodshed in Iraq and waiting for nearly seven years before aggressively committing to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“This report is a face-saving device for the US. It gives the US administration a subtle way to backtrack on their stance regarding the Iranian nuclear issues,” said Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment Middle East Center in Beirut, Lebanon. “What we are seeing is not a change in the US strategy of reshaping the Middle East but rather a change of tactics.”

Writing in the Jordanian daily al-Rai, analyst Mohammad Kharroub noted that the US intelligence report “opens the door wide to numerous ‘compromises’ between Washington and Tehran in light of stalemates over explosive files (Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine) that have exhausted Washington. This stalemate has left Washington exposed and naked politically, diplomatically but especially militarily.”

In Lebanon, for example, Iran’s backing of the militant group Hezbollah has hampered US and Saudi efforts to strengthen embattled Prime Minister Fouad Sinora. The nation’s political parties have been unable to agree on a president for months, leading to increased fears of factional fighting. The problem is further agitated by Iran’s ally Syria, which wants to maintain its influence by undermining pro-Western candidates.

... contd.