TEHRAN (FNA) - A senior American analyst, with special expertise on Iran, underlined the need for both Tehran and Washington to resume ties in a bid to have a coherent and successful policy in the region.

""If Iran wants to have a coherent and effective policy in the region, it needs to cooperate with the countries in the region, and that includes the U.S. which has a very large presence (in the region). Meantime, I do believe that the U.S. also needs to have relations with Iran in order to have a coherent policy,"" Gary Sick said in an exclusive interview with FNA on Wednesday.
Reminding U.S. President Barack Obama's overture to Iran, Sick noted, ""President Obama has formally proposed to Iran to have good relations and has actually offered that openly and without preconditions.""
""I think the two sides need each other,"" he reiterated.
He urged Iran to accept Obama's offer of talks, and added, ""If Iran, in fact, decides to accept negotiations without preconditions, that President Obama suggested, I think that changes the situation and opens up the possibility for progress.""
Commenting on the possible results of a today meeting of the 5+1 group (the five permanent UN Security Council member states plus Germany) in an area near Frankfurt, the senior analyst said, ""I have seen nothing that suggests the sanctions will be agreed on.""
""I basically agree that sanctions (against Iran) have not worked,"" he stressed.
Gary G. Sick (born 1935) is an American Academic and analyst of the Middle East affairs, with special expertise on Iran, who served on the U.S. National Security Council under Presidents Ford, Jimmy Carter, and for a couple weeks under Ronald Reagan as well.