Iran no longer wants to talk to U.S.

[babylonsister]

Iran no longer wants to talk to U.S.
By Leila Fadel | McClatchy Newspapers

* Posted on Thursday, January 24, 2008


BAGHDAD — Despite repeated offers from the United States, Iran has refused to set a new date for further talks between the two countries in Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Thursday.

The U.S. and Iranian ambassadors held three meetings last August in an effort to defuse tensions, but since then Iran has backed out of a follow-up session on three occasions, Iraqi officials said.

These officials think the reason is a U.S. National Intelligence Estimate in November that reversed an earlier assessment and concluded that Iran had suspended its nuclear weapons program in 2003.

"The timing of the NIE report was a disaster," said an Iraqi official with knowledge of the meetings. "The message vindicated Iran's position ... The pressure and the threat of force were keeping them in check. Now that's gone." The official refused to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The Iraqi official worried that progress made in the earlier meetings may be lost if the talks stop, and Iran may reverse its support for a six-month cease-fire by the Mahdi Army militia of Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al Sadr that's helped reduce the violence in Iraq.

"We're set to go," U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker told the Reuters news agency Thursday. "We have communicated that to the Iraqis, and the Iranians, for whatever reason, are holding back. We want to have these discussions — they have just suddenly gone quiet."

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/25419.html

[gateley]

1. Send Joe Biden. I'd rather talk to him than Crocker any day. nt

[madrchsod]

2. waiting for the new president

they have all the time in the world to wait out till we pick a new leader. the problem with hillary is that she has sided with bush on the iranian vote so it`s going to be a bit tough to talk to them....