Posted on 10/23/2008 4:52:42 PM PDT by BGHater
The Bush administration will announce in mid-November, after the presidential election, that it intends to establish the first U.S. diplomatic presence in Iran since the 1979-81 hostage crisis, according to senior Bush administration officials.
The proposal for an "interests section," which falls short of a full U.S. Embassy , has been conveyed in private diplomatic messages to Tehran , and a search is under way to choose the American diplomat who'd head the post, the officials said.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because the step hasn't been announced and discussions of it have been limited to a small circle of government officials.
It's not known how Iran has responded. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last month that he'd consider the idea, which first surfaced over the summer.
The U.S. had close ties to Iran's late shah, who was overthrown in 1979. Iran's ruling circles, however, are suspicious of U.S. attempts to expand its influence in the country.
Earlier this month, an Iranian official said that Tehran would refuse to allow a U.S.-based nonprofit group, the American-Iranian Council , to operate there after it received a Treasury Department license to do so.
The question of whether to deal directly with Iran has punctuated the U.S. presidential campaign.
Sen. Barack Obama , the Democratic nominee, has criticized the Bush administration's penchant for not talking to U.S. enemies, and has indicated that he'd hold direct talks, even with Ahmadinejad.
Republican nominee Sen. John McCain has ridiculed Obama and his foreign policy as naive.
Yet in his waning days in office, President Bush has authorized a more direct approach to Iran , sending Undersecretary of State William Burns to participate in six-nation nuclear talks with Iranian representatives in Geneva in July.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
This, on top of North Korea getting delisted.
It looks like Bush is getting desperate for some sort of foreign policy “victory” before he leaves office.
I’ll believe it when I see it. Someone may want to tell Ajhminijab, who said the U. S was going to fall apart recently.
Wow! I wonder who the “lucky” person would be to get that assignment? Colin Powell? Condoleeza Rice? Obama? Bill Ayers?
You clearly don't understand the rope a dope, super secret strategy going on here.
I swear he's doing all he can to mess with McCain.
Memo to George Bush: STFU
I sure as hell hope that it does not happen.
That’s just wrong. But it’s not unexpected, after his Administration caved in so many times to their import-happy, most influential constituents. Our merchant citizens of the world must be feeling like Lawrence of Arabia instead of like Benedict Arnold.
If this is true, it is true that the U.S. and/or Israel has given up on attacking Iran. sigh!
Lets save time and blindfold them now and start parading them before the cameras as hostages. That is what will happen if we are dumb enough to send diplomats to tehran.
I’m wondering if they’ll move back into the old U S Embassy compound on Takht-i-Jamshid. The vermin will have had almost 30 years to bug the place. The vermin took the place over and have been squatting there ever since. Place will have to be fumigated for a few weeks.
I must have missed the official apology from Iran about the US embassy hostage taking incident from 25 years ago today.
I also must have missed the story about Iranian compensation paid to the hostages.
And somehow, I also seemed to have missed the story about how doing anything but growing mushroom clouds in Tehran will do America and the rest of the world any good, and how opening a diplomatic station will be more than simply a publicity tool for Achmawhatchyacallit to demonstrate how the Imperialist American Dogs have come wimpering back, begging to serve the Prophet (may peas be upon him).
I miss a lot, I guess.
here we go again
Now they say the AIC office was turned down by the regime
Thanks for the update.
and I am sure that they will use the same buildings that were used previously as a sign of lasting friendship and good will. This of course taking a hint from Hitler and his railroad car scenario with the French.
For sentimental reasons of course. Those alleyways (streets)around the embassy were tough to negotiate if you had a large vehicle.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.