Rand says US unlikely to contain Iran

Rand says US unlikely to contain Iran
A US think-tank has warned that a US-led containment of Iran is 'unlikely' to be sustainable among the Persian Gulf states.

The Rand Corporation has said in a report that the Persian Gulf states desire to maintain their cordial ties with Iran, if not active political and economic engagement.

"Arab opinion on Iran is often split between publics and their regimes. Arab regimes fear Iran's nuclear aspirations but are cognizant that its nuclear program is largely endorsed by their Arab publics as a critique of Western double standards and interference," the report said.

The think-tank has urged the US administration to try to establish a multilateral security structure in the Persian Gulf region --although it will take time-- rather than pursuing unilateral policies.

The study titled "Dangerous But Not Omnipotent: Exploring the Reach and Limitations of Iranian Power in the Middle East" also says that Iran's rise as a regional power presents a key foreign policy and security challenge to the US, but its reach may be far more limited than Western conventional wisdom suggests.