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Three Republican lawmakers have asked Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to facilitate their visa applications to visit Iran, where they want to observe "Iranian democracy in action," meet with imprisoned Americans, and visit nuclear facilities. Reps. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), and Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.) say they also want to use the visit to get an update on Iran's ballistic missile developments, and to discuss with the IRGC its detention last month of 10 U.S. Navy sailors in the Persian Gulf. "If Iran is truly a partner in peace,...

With little fanfare, another taboo in U.S.-Iran relations has shattered. Jim Slattery, a former six-term Democratic Congressman from Kansas, late last year became the first former or current American legislator to visit the Islamic Republic of Iran. In Tehran to attend a conference on countering violent extremism, Slattery encountered a largely friendly reception from both officials and ordinary Iranians and came back equipped to present a more realistic and upbeat depiction of Iranians than is usually found on Capitol Hill. Speaking Monday at the Atlantic Council in Washington, Slattery conceded that there are elements in Iran that still oppose any...

EU foreign relations chief Catherine Ashton has agreed to visit Iran amid wider efforts to improve relations between the Islamic republic and the West. She told press while visiting Kuwait on Monday (13 January) that: "I read with interest the invitation to visit Tehran, and it is my intention to do so in the course of the next weeks.” Her decision comes after Iranian deputy foreign minister Abbas Araqchi on Saturday told media she has “an open invitation” to visit any time. It also comes after Iran and the UN Security Council veto countries plus Germany in Geneva on Sunday...

An axis of evil. Obama's corrupt pal, Raila Odinga of Kenya, is winging over to Iran while members of his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) are meeting with leaders in Southern Sudan. This bears watching. He is aligning with the most malevolent forces of power in the world. Does Obama cozy up to any good people? Back in December 2007 and January 2008 I exposed the disturbing alliance of Obama and Kenyan agitator, inciter and Islamist Raila Odinga. It was a seditious alliance, as Odinga was brutally attempting to overthrow the duly elected Kibuki government - democratically elected and allied with...

January 30, 2004 Lawmakers to Visit Iran, Meet Officials By BARRY SCHWEID ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) - As the State Department encourages wider contact with Iran, Congress is set to test sentiment for ending a quarter-century of icy relations by sending staff members to Tehran next month for talks with Iranian officials. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he hoped the visit, arranged at a dinner Wednesday involving several members of Congress and Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, would be followed by trips to Tehran by members of Congress and later by Bush administration policy-makers. "They are showing some signs...

Greta had Monsoor Ijaz on and he told her something may be up with deplomacy in Iran and some alqueda that they may have and we want. He said in exchange for the Mullars to stay in power,they would push the alqueda opporitives into Pakistan where our ops can wait for them at the border. That may be why some congressmen are going to Iran shortly. Something may be up with that and that may be why Mushariff may be giving a wink and not for our ops to go into Pakistan. I just found that interesting. Comments anyone?

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...