Obama faces a 'hornet's nest' in the Middle East: Experts

London, Dec.3 : US President-elect Barack Obama faces a potential "hornet's nest" in the Middle East when he takes over January 20, experts have warned in a report prepared by a coalition of think tanks.

The Council for Foreign Relations and the Brookings Institution has drafted the report.

According to Richard Hass, one of the authors of the report titled "Restoring the Balance", Obama will face the greatest foreign policy challenge from Iran, which on course to producing a nuclear bomb.

"Diplomacy is not guaranteed to work. But the other options - military action or living with an Iranian weapon are sufficiently unattractive for it to warrant serious commitment," The Times quotes Hass, as saying. Gary Samore, another author, says there is a need for a swift adoption of a previously untested approach.

"New administrations can choose new policies but they can't choose next contexts," Samore said.

The report paints a grim picture of the problems in the Middle East, but the experts have urged the new administration not to fall into the trap of treating Iran in isolation to the rest of the Middle East.

The report lays the blame for much of the crisis with the Bush Administration, whose war in Iraq fuelled Iran's regional ascendancy.

ANI