The Nabucco Carrot and U.S.-Iran Engagement

The Nabucco Carrot and U.S.-Iran Engagement

For years, analysts have argued that the Nabucco natural gas pipeline -- a U.S.-backed effort to transport gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe via Turkey, thus bypassing Russia -- needed to accept gas from Iran if it was to be economically viable. But Iranian involvement in the project, which is intended to reduce European energy dependence on Russian gas exports, has been anathema for U.S. policymakers: Washington's efforts to thwart Iran's ambitions have so far overridden its desire to thwart Russia's.

That may be changing. The White House has appointed a new envoy for Eurasian Energy, Richard Morningstar, who worked on energy diplomacy in the Clinton administration and has a reputation as a savvy diplomat. Morningstar played a crucial role in shepherding through the last big U.S. move in the Central Asian energy game, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline.

At an energy conference in Bulgaria at the end of April, Morningstar refused to rule out Iranian involvement in Nabucco, and suggested that opening up the Iranian energy sector could be a "carrot" for improving relations on other issues.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article as well as three free articles per month. You'll also receive our free email newsletter to stay up to date on all our coverage:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having your own personal researcher and analyst for news and events around the globe. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of 15,000+ articles
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday
  • Weekly in-depth reports on important issues and countries
  • Daily links to must-read news, analysis, and opinion from top sources around the globe, curated by our keen-eyed team of editors
  • Your choice of weekly region-specific newsletters, delivered to your inbox.
  • Smartphone- and tablet-friendly website.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review