TEHRAN An U.S. expert has suggested six ways for the U.S. administration to approach Iran, underlining that the Islamic Republic currently plays a major role in the region.

Susan Melonie of the Brookings Institute said that the policies adopted by Washington have not isolated Iran and have indeed created a rift between the United States and its other allies.

The admission that Iran plays a major role in the region has always been to justify all U.S. hostilities against the Islamic Republic.

When a country is a major player in an important region such as the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, there are two ways for the so-called superpowers to establish ties with it. Either the countries accept the role and influence of the regional power, or they try to remove it from the policy-making areas of the region in order to safeguard their own expansionist policies.

Washington's direct and indirect pressure on Iran, such as its sanctions and freezing Iranian assets as well as its resistance to Iranian policy on the Caspian Sea issue, shows that the White House is determined to fight it out with Iran in order to realize its goals.

The U.S. knows that it cannot achieve its goals as long as Iran plays a major role in the region. It considers Iran the major threat to its interests in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf.

The U.S. expert said that Iran is a major player in regional affairs. She then suggested that Washington should formulate a new plan for the resumption of ties with Tehran and give more credit to Iran. She, however emphasized that the U.S. must at the same time closely monitor Iran's potential development of weapons of mass destruction.

She then criticized Washington's policy of dividing Iranians into two groups, conservatives and reformists, and saying that in both groups there are people who want closer ties with the U.S.

She recommended the following:

1. Gradual easing of sanctions against the Islamic Republic by allowing U.S. companies to invest more than $20m in Iran. 2. Changing U.S. policies on the Caspian Sea and taking Iran's position into consideration in Caspian Sea issues. 3. Helping Iran to join the World Trade Organization (WTO). 4. Solving the legal problems between the two countries. 5. Encouraging closer relations between the people of the two countries. 6. Putting an end to fingerprinting Iranian nationals entering the U.S.