WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is considering setting up a diplomatic outpost in Iran in what would mark a dramatic official U.S. return to the country nearly 30 years after the American embassy was overrun and the two nations severed relations.
Even as it threatens the Iranian regime with sanctions and possible military action over its nuclear program, the administration is floating the idea of opening a U.S. interests section in Tehran similar to the one the State Department runs in Havana, diplomatic and political officials told The Associated Press on Monday. Like the one in communist Cuba, an interest section, or de facto embassy, in the Iranian capital would give the United States a presence on the ground through which it can communicate directly with students, dissidents and others without endorsing the government, one official said.
It would process visa applications and serve as a center for American cultural outreach to locals, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Now, the U.S. has no diplomatic presence in Iran and relies on the Swiss Embassy in Tehran to serve as its "protecting power." The Swiss now pass messages to the Iranian foreign ministry on Washington's behalf and handle the affairs U.S. citizens in the country.
Excerpted
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080623/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iran
Out house, out post, out of touch...diplomacy, another day.
Interesting times we live in.
Thanks Oorang.
More diplomacy...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035432/posts
“We want more Iranians visiting the U.S.,” Rice says”
Reuters ^ | Mon Jun 23, 2008
Posted on June 23, 2008 8:11:11 PM PDT by LightBeam