Thursday
Feb052009
The Latest on (Possible) US-Iran Secret Talks
Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 8:16
A blog at The Los Angeles Times updates on the possibility of American and Iranian officials meeting this weekend at the Munich Security Conference.
The Times seems to have gotten the story muddled, if not wrong, however. Its spin is that "Iranians have been falling all over themselves to predict there won’t be any thaw in the diplomatic ice", yet if you read the entry carefully, the evidence is that Tehran may be manoeuvring cautiously for quiet, little-noticed discussions.
Iranian Speaker of the Parliament Ali Larijani, one of the key Tehran politicans to watch when it comes to foreign affairs, will be at the Conference. Publicly he is setting out a guarded, wait-and-see line:
Larijani added that, for talks to proceed, there needed to be a step by Washington such as the unfreezing of Iranian assets or the release of Iranians detained in Iraq since 2005. The US would also have to avoid the precondition of a temporary suspension of Iran’s production of nuclear fuel.
OK, so Larijani is setting out red lines before any formal talks begin. But, and this is the key, he is not ruling out off-the-record contacts which could raise the issues of economic sanctions, detentions, and co-operation in areas such as Afghanistan. The Times has the significant line even as it ignores the significance:
Juan Cole offers an excellent overview of the dynamics within the US Administration and of the reasons why Iran might welcome informal discussions.
The Times seems to have gotten the story muddled, if not wrong, however. Its spin is that "Iranians have been falling all over themselves to predict there won’t be any thaw in the diplomatic ice", yet if you read the entry carefully, the evidence is that Tehran may be manoeuvring cautiously for quiet, little-noticed discussions.
Iranian Speaker of the Parliament Ali Larijani, one of the key Tehran politicans to watch when it comes to foreign affairs, will be at the Conference. Publicly he is setting out a guarded, wait-and-see line:
Mr. Obama in one of his speeches talked of following a new way regarding the Islamic world, but in some media, some sentences are attributed to him which are not promising, such as talking of big carrots and big stick. This sort of talk is beneath the dignity of the Iranian nation.
Larijani added that, for talks to proceed, there needed to be a step by Washington such as the unfreezing of Iranian assets or the release of Iranians detained in Iraq since 2005. The US would also have to avoid the precondition of a temporary suspension of Iran’s production of nuclear fuel.
OK, so Larijani is setting out red lines before any formal talks begin. But, and this is the key, he is not ruling out off-the-record contacts which could raise the issues of economic sanctions, detentions, and co-operation in areas such as Afghanistan. The Times has the significant line even as it ignores the significance:
[Larijani] told reporters today there was “no plan” to talk with American counterparts, but he didn’t rule out the possibility of informal contacts.
Juan Cole offers an excellent overview of the dynamics within the US Administration and of the reasons why Iran might welcome informal discussions.