Araghchi: Power Reaches Lasting Results Only Through Established Diplomacy
In a new preface to the sixth edition of Power of Negotiation
Araghchi argues that power and diplomacy reinforce each other, recounting Iran’s experiences in two wars and a diplomacy-under-fire period, and emphasizes that negotiation extends rather than replaces power.
From a new preface to the sixth edition of the book Power of Negotiation, Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi writes that diplomacy and power are not in conflict but travel in the same direction. He states: diplomacy is effective when grounded in power, and power achieves lasting results when stabilized by diplomacy, while those who set them against one another neither know diplomacy nor power. He recounts that within a short period Iran faced two wars, and that the adversaries sought to win through force after failed negotiations. In both cases, misjudgments by opponents centered on the belief that Iran was weak; Iranian society, the armed forces, and diplomats remained united and active, leading to ceasefires rather than capitulation. The author describes a period of “diplomacy under fire” during the forty-day conflict, with ongoing negotiations, high-stakes diplomacy, and international outreach aimed at safeguarding independence. He concludes that diplomacy is not a substitute for power but its continuation, and that the art of foreign policy lies in weaving power and diplomacy together—even in the harshest crises.