After US-Iran deals, another hurdle looms

The prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Iran, coinciding with the completion of the nuclear deal, marked milestones in President Barack Obama’s policy of engagement, but ones that will be difficult to repeat as he turns to the next challenge: resolving the conflict in Syria.

With the clock winding down on the Obama administration, election-year politics in Washington and Tehran make prospects for additional cooperation deeply uncertain, The Wall Street Journal said on Monday.

The president sought to address domestic concerns about his Iran diplomacy by hitting Tehran with new sanctions aimed at its ballistic-missile program, just hours after the nuclear deal went into effect on Saturday and five American prisoners were released in Iran after long, secret negotiations.

But any further advancement in Mr. Obama’s engagement policy, including on Syria, faces significant hurdles.

The most significant test ahead is Syria. Mr. Obama is seeking a resolution to the nearly five-year conflict through negotiations that involve Iran and Russia—allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad—and Arab states that oppose his regime.

Those talks continue this month, but divisions remain over Assad’s future, and it isn’t clear if Iran or Russia is prepared to pressure the regime to agree to a cease-fire.

Iran could be less likely to shift its position after such high-profile dealings with the U.S. because “a retreat in Syria would look like a defeat” to them, said Dennis Ross, who served as Obama’s top adviser on the Mideast during the president’s first term.

“We should have low expectations about how much things could change in the near term,” he said.

Source: MENA