Posted on 01/30/2004 4:08:03 PM PST by yonif
A GROUP of US congressional aides is to go to Iran in February on the first official US visit there since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Senator Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, today said the visit could set the stage for a later mission by US lawmakers.
The senator, who met the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammad Javad Zarif, on Wednesday said: "The delegation is confirmed, they are going next month." He gave no exact date.
"The Iranian government is not willing to have government to government talks but they feel comfortable with a step at a time," he added.
"They are skittish about going too far and we have gotten to the point where they will accept a small delegation of staffers.
"I think that will set the stage for meetings with parliamentarians and I think we are laying the groundwork for trying to improve relations with Iran, which would be a big boost."
The United States severed relations with the Islamic government in Iran in 1980 following a crisis over hostages seized from the US embassy in Tehran. Only two years ago President George W. Bush said that Iran was part of a weapons proliferating "Axis of Evil" along with Iraq and North Korea.
But while the United States has expressed concern about Iran's suspected nuclear weapons research, relations have shown signs of a thaw.
The United States provided relief assistance to the Iranian city of Bam, devastated by an earthquake in December, and proposed sending a high-level humanitarian delegation to Tehran.
While appreciative of the US earthquake aid, Tehran said the visit of a delegation, that would have been led by Senator Elizabeth Dole and could have included a member of the Bush family, was best delayed.
Specter was among a group of US lawmakers who met Iran's UN ambassador on Friday. Dennis Hastert, the leader of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, was also present.
Specter said the discussions were "fruitful".
"We talked about terrorism, we talked about co-operation against al-Qaeda. We talked about their nuclear programme."
Zarif's appearance in Washington was a significant gesture. He is basically confined to New York, where the United Nations has its headquarters, and was refused past requests for permission to travel outside the city.
Last Friday, Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi met Senator Joseph Biden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The State Department said today that the Bush administration would not oppose any trip by US lawmakers to Iran.
"In general, we've always encouraged people-to-people exchanges with Iran," spokesman Richard Boucher said.
"We certainly encourage congressional travel in general. It sounds like it would be fine with us, if that's what they decide to do."
A senior State Department official said later that if such a delegation did travel to Iran, the administration would expect the lawmakers to raise US concerns about Tehran's support for anti-Israel groups, its opposition to the Middle East peace process, human rights and its alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons.
In Tehran, the Iranian foreign ministry confirmed that Zarif had met several members of the US Congress, delivering a speech and then having dinner and talks on "regional and international questions".
...Join Nikolae Ceaucescu in Hell.
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