WASHINGTON -- The author of a recent book on the Obama administration's efforts to solve the Iran nuclear crisis through diplomacy says he sees no "military solution" to the standoff -- and suggests that military action might only serve to enhance tensions over the issue.
Trita Parsi, the author of "A Single Roll of the Dice: Obama's Diplomacy With Iran," spoke to The Huffington Post during a visit to the D.C. bureau earlier this week.
"Even at the best case scenario, even if it managed to set the program back two or three years, all it would do, most likely, is it would redouble the Iranian desire for a nuclear deterrence, precisely because they were attacked," said Parsi, who is the president of the National Iranian American Council. "When people are talking about a military solution, I find that kind of ironic. I think perhaps you can say about a military option, but the idea of a military solution I think one should contest, because I have not come across any military people who truly believe that it can work."
Parsi, who is also the author of a previous book about the complicated history of Israel and Iran's relationship, said that the intensity of chatter about war this year -- a perennial part of Middle Eastern discourse -- makes conflict seem all the more likely.
In his latest book, Parsi reveals details about the Obama administration's early attempt to engage openly with Iran, concluding that the effort had been well-intended, but lacked sufficient patience and time to work.
The lack of open lines of communication, Parsi said, has greatly complicated American efforts to consider negotiations with Iran. "We don't know what they want because we're not talking to them," Parsi notes. Moreover, Parsi argues that Iran may not even know exactly what it wants because it has not had to lay out terms in a negotiation.
Watch the videos above and below to hear Parsi discuss the looming dangers of war with Iran, his analysis of Iran's internal nuclear ambitions, and previous failed efforts to diffuse the crisis peacefully.
Why Iran may not even know what it really wants:
How 2009's Green Revolution interrupted President Barack Obama's attempt to engage with Iran:
Why there is no way to predict what will happen across the region after a military strike: