The Guardian view on US-Iran cooperation in the Middle East

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/17/us-iran-cooperation-middle-east

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If anybody a year ago had said the United States and Iran might today be cooperating in dealing with a major international crisis, they would have been regarded as deranged. The degree of convergence should not be exaggerated, but a common interest has emerged because of the threat to Iraq from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis).

Today's Iraq can be seen as a house which the United States built, not very well, and which Iran then took over and half-controlled, also not very well. Neither Tehran nor Washington want to see their handiwork crash to the ground, with dangerous consequences not only for Iraq but for the whole region. It makes sense that they would work together to patch it up. It is just possible that wider cooperation could follow, even opening a path to a settlement in Syria, effective containment of jihadists, and a reduction in the level of confrontation between Sunnis and Shias in the Middle East.

These are very much the far shores of optimistic speculation, however. Where we are now is that both countries have said they will consult and cooperate. Britain has put a little more weight on these scales by announcing it is to reopen its embassy in Tehran. Military action is far less probable, less desirable, and less important than political action. Iran and the United States would have to agree on what to do about Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's disastrous prime minister. Neither country likes Mr Maliki, and he does not like them, but Iran has twice in recent years helped him to hold on to the premiership. Is he still their man? And, if he is, does the United States also think they should stick with Mr Maliki? His recent pronouncements suggest he has learned no lessons, so these are key questions.

At the other end of the Isis envelope lies Syria. If Isis is to be dealt with effectively, it needs to be squeezed from there as well. The Assad regime has been accused of fighting certain jihadi groups less vigorously than its non-jihadist opponents. It needs jihadis to survive and be visible, it is alleged, to project the regime as a bulwark against terrorism and to keep its enemies at one another's throats. Could Iran help alter this and push the Syrian government toward real peace talks in exchange for a degree of rehabilitation for the regime, which the US could help broker?

The context is that Iran and the west have been moving slowly, if not surely, toward a rapprochement since late last year, when the new nuclear negotiations were agreed. A deal to limit Iran's nuclear activity and end the crippling sanctions on its economy is far from guaranteed, but closer than it has been for years. If you want to be very hopeful, you could see the Iraq crisis helping to bring about the "grand bargain" between Iran and America which has eluded them in the past.