Jordan Promoting U.S.-Iran Contacts

The Washington Post ^ | December 7, 2003 | Robin Wright

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Jordan's King Abdullah is quietly trying to broker a deal that would lead Tehran to surrender about 70 al Qaeda operatives, including the son of Osama bin Laden, in exchange for U.S. action on the largest Iranian opposition group now based in Iraq, according to U.S. and Middle East officials.

Abdullah, who is hoping to revive dialogue between the United States and Iran, discussed prospects with the Bush administration during a private visit to Washington on Thursday and Friday. He visited Tehran earlier this fall, the first visit by a Jordanian leader in a quarter-century, the officials said. Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher also traveled to Iran for further talks shortly before the king's U.S. visit.

Jordan's effort reflects growing interest in the Middle East in seeing the United States reopen informal talks with Iran, which were suspended after three sessions in Europe earlier this year. During his tour of Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria last week, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was also urged to improve relations with Iran.

"Certainly people in the region, including other heads of state, are interested in seeing something happen. It's clear that people in the region would like us to do what we can to establish a better relationship," a senior State Department official said yesterday.

The growing interest by Arab countries is a significant shift, given long-standing tension between Arabs and Iran's Persians, and the general fear among secular Arab governments of Iran's Islamic regime.

[Prodigal Son]

Interesting. Thanks for posting. King Abdullah has taken some flak from Syria's Ba'athists lately for being "America's Spokesman" and serving US interests in the region.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

He wants to follow in his father's footsteps. We'll see how well he does.