Michael McFaul, Abbas Milani, and Larry Diamond, coordinators of the Iran Democracy Project, propose a new strategy for dealing with Iran.

In a forthcoming article appearing in the Winter 2006-2007 issue of The Washington Quarterly, they argue that the "United States should offer Iran a deal it cannot refuse, one that combines verifiable nuclear safeguards (including suspending enrichment) with restoring full diplomatic ties and promoting trade, investment and democracy. A key part of such an offer would be mutual pledges not to use force against each other or initiate military action against one's neighbors."

Diamond, McFaul and Milani advise Washington to "reverse its policy of sanctioning or threatening Iran -- which is not working very well in any case -- and instead engage the Iranian government and people fully. Connecting with all quarters in Iranian society would ultimately facilitate the democratic transformation of Iran from within. The authors suggest that developments in Iran could echo the Western engagement of the Soviet Union in the Helsinki process in the 1970s, which included a security basket alongside a human rights basket that ultimately undermined the communist system. The Middle East would benefit from a potential regional security grouping similar to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that emerged from Helsinki.

Engaging Iran in a manner that affirmed its legitimate nuclear industry and regional security concerns, while also opening its domestic system to democratic and human rights norms that its citizens covet, the authors argue, could simultaneously achieve arms control and democratization goals; these would benefit Iran, the United States, the Middle East region and other interested parties."