Man Behind Iran Policy Faces Big Task

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Dennis Ross, A Key Obama Architect on Iran

The Post's Glenn Kessler speaks with Emily Kotecki about Dennis Ross, one of the main architects of the Obama administration's Iran policy, and whether his skills and background make him the right person for the job.

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Ross is a star of the Democratic foreign policy establishment, but his debut in the Obama administration was inauspicious.

The official announcement of his appointment as the State Department special adviser for the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia came in a late-night news release in February, in contrast to the public ceremonies that heralded the appointments of special envoys such as Richard C. Holbrooke and George J. Mitchell. Unlike Holbrooke and Mitchell, he reports only to the secretary of state, not also to the president, suggesting that Ross's views will carry less weight in the administration.

Obama's most public outreach to the Iranian government, issuing a videotaped greeting on the occasion of the Persian New Year, was the inspiration of Erica Thibault, a State Department public diplomacy specialist. Her suggestion reached a White House official dealing with Iran policy, who brought it to the attention of senior officials.

But during a recent appearance on Capitol Hill, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sought to place Ross at the center of the administration's efforts on Iran. "Right now we are just testing their willingness to have any kind of engagement," she told lawmakers. "Dennis Ross, who is handling our Southwest Asia policy, including Iran, is -- I'm sure you know him -- extremely thoughtful and smart about how to sequence this."

Puneet Talwar, a senior White House aide, has emerged as an important figure on Iran policy, according to several diplomats in contact with the administration. And Undersecretary of State William J. Burns -- who was Ross's deputy in the first Bush administration -- will be the chief negotiator at nuclear talks with Iran.

Ross's most visible action thus far was a trip to the Persian Gulf in late April to reassure anxious Arab officials that the United States would not cut a deal with Iran and abandon them. Many Arab officials are skeptical of Ross because of the perception that he tilted heavily toward Israel during the Clinton years.

Before joining the Obama administration, Ross co-founded a not-for-profit group called United Against Nuclear Iran, whose executive director is Mark Wallace, a Bush administration official. Wallace said the group grew out of discussions with Holbrooke and former CIA director R. James Woolsey about how to achieve bipartisan consensus on the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran. Wallace declined to reveal the contributors to the group's $2 million budget last year, but two people familiar with the organization said many are pro-Israel advocates.

Ross has "a lot of baggage from the past, but his portfolio is different in his new role so it may not matter," said one Arab diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was discussing personalities. "We don't trust the Iranians either."

Supporters of Ross argue that his Israeli connections make him the ideal candidate to sell a U.S. agreement with Iran to Israel, which itself has an undeclared nuclear arsenal.

Arab diplomats who attended Ross's presentation or were briefed on it said he provided few specifics on what the Americans planned to do. Many Arab states, especially in the Persian Gulf region, are pushing for maximum pressure on Iran, arguing that the Obama administration's engagement approach might have made sense a few years ago but now that Iran may be on the cusp of acquiring the technology needed to produce a nuclear weapon, endless talking may be fruitless.

"Dennis's approach is very rational," said another Arab diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "The question is: Are we running out of time?"

European officials ask the same question. A senior French diplomat met this year with Ross and offered words of caution: The biggest challenge for the United States will be how to decide that the talks are going nowhere. "It's difficult to stop talking once you start," the diplomat said.