A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

The story is here and it is quite the interesting one. If we are going to talk to Iran, we should--as I have argued--talk about a whole range of topics, including human rights. It will be especially important to raise the issue of human rights given the fact that Iran is heading for a presidential election and that any effort to show the degree to which human rights are not respected in the country will rebound to the benefit of those who want to reverse the kind of hardliner policies followed and supported by Khamenei, Ahmadinejad and their rivals, and liberalize the country. The positive publicity reformers receive thanks to an increased focus on the state of human rights will be invaluable--as will efforts to cast the government in a negative (and accurate) light concerning its violations of even the most basic human liberties.