Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (L) holds a bilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) on the second straight day of talks over Tehran's nuclear program in Vienna, July 14, 2014.CREDIT: REUTERS/JIM BOURG[/caption]
The Obama administration and Iran, engaged in direct nuclear negotiations and facing a common threat from Islamic State militants, have moved into an effective state of détente over the past year, according to senior U.S. and Arab officials.
The shift could drastically alter the balance of power in the region, and risks alienating key U.S. allies such as Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates who are central to the coalition fighting Islamic State. Sunni Arab leaders view the threat posed by Shiite Iran as equal to or greater than that posed by the Sunni radical group Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
Israel contends the U.S. has weakened the terms of its negotiations with Iran and played down Tehran’s destabilizing role in the region.
This article was written by Jay Solomon & Maria Abi-Habib for the Wall Street Journal on OCT. 28, 2014. Jay Solomon writes about foreign affairs and national security from The Wall Street Journal's Washington DC bureau. Maria Abi-Habib is a roving Middle East correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, based in Beirut.
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