US should think again on its refusal to talk to Iran

[Flabbergasted]

US should think again on its refusal to talk to Iran
By Francis Matthew, Editor at Large



The US remains determined to go after Iran's nuclear programme, and it is not interested in opening a wider dialogue with the Iranian government.

This is despite various recent developments which encouraged optimistic analysts to argue that the US Secretary of State Condolezza Rice is promoting a more pragmatic approach to Iran, in supposed opposition to the determined confrontation supported by Vice-President Dick Cheney.

The perceived signs of a Rice-Cheney split were based on several shifts in US practice: the most obvious being the May 27 diplomatic talks between Iran and the US. The talks focused on Iraq and sought common ground between the two opponents, which they found it in their shared fear of a complete breakdown of Iraq's national government.

This meant that the talks had the curious outcome that both American and Iranian governments agree that they want to preserve the Shiite-dominated government of Iraq.

But the US administration was very careful to limit these talks to dealing with Iraq and nothing else. The brief exercise of diplomacy was not the start of a major breakthrough in US-Iran relations.

http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/columns/region/10132159.html