Trita Parsi Quotes

We should not worry if some roads to peace go through Beijing, New Delhi or Brasília. So long as all roads to war do not go through Washington.

Committing American lives to defend these Arab dictatorships is far more scandalous than an embarrassing presidential handshake with the Saudi crown prince.

Ultimately, a negotiated solution is needed. Iran may believe it needs more leverage, but just as the US has grave difficulties giving up its [economic] sanctions—as if they are a goal in and of themselves—Iran may find itself in the same trap if it builds a [nuclear] bomb.

We have essentially treated the often ill-defined and aggressive objectives of U.S. partners in the region as our own, essentially letting these mostly autocratic dictatorships determine U.S. policy in the Middle East.

I point you to Jared Kushner’s own document, which explicitly states that any reduction in tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran is a threat to the durability of the Abraham Accords. […] in order for Israel and Saudi Arabia and the UAE to continue to have enough strategic incentives to collaborate and have relations and all jointly forget about Palestinian suffering, there needs to be a threat from Iran.

Unfortunately, the U.S. has adopted an approach to the region that has disabled it from becoming a credible mediator. Too often, Washington takes sides in conflicts and becomes a co-belligerent—as in Yemen—which then reduces its ability to play the role of peacemaker.

At its core, the Abraham Accords reboot the unsuccessful U.S. strategy of organizing the Middle East around isolating Iran, dividing the region between America and its partners on one hand, and Iran and its allies on the other.

American unreliability is simply destabilizing to Iran, making it prefer a stable albeit bad economy over the uncertainty of uncommitted American sanctions relief.

Amidst the confusion and uncertainty of a world without American protection, two models are emerging. One is represented by the fledgling Iraqi effort to promote inclusive regional diplomacy. The other is manifested in the Abraham Accords, with its emphasis on facilitating the reconciliation between Arab dictatorships and Israel in order to counter Iran’s influence.

In a nuclearized Middle East, Iran will find that its natural conventional superiority—due to its population, size, and resources—has been eliminated due to the cascading effect of its own decision to nuclearize.

Biden must show the same strength that he demonstrated when ending the war in Afghanistan… If not, instead of making the world see Saudi Arabia for the pariah that it is, MBS will have succeeded in making [Joe] Biden the hypocrite he shouldn’t be.

Biden is right in calling out the threat a Russian attack on Kiev poses to the rules-based order. Yet, the US has itself undermined the central institutions of this order, all the while promoting its global primacy in the name of that very same order.