The Bush administration has halted plans to create a diplomatic outpost in Iran, according to an Associated Press report. The proposal to send diplomats to Tehran for the first time in 30 years was first made over the summer and received a great deal of attention at the time. The idea was to create an interest section, or de facto embassy, similar to the one the United States runs in communist Cuba.
Two administration officials familiar with the matter spoke anonymously to the AP and said that the decision will be left for the next US president because it could be seen as a reward for Iran's continued defiance of demands to halt suspect nuclear activities or as political meddling in the presidential election.
Democrat Barack Obama has called for unconditional talks with the leaders of rogue nations like Iran; a suggestion Republican John McCain has ridiculed as naïve. The officials explained that opening an interest section in Tehran could be interpreted as a Republican president helping a Republican nominee by neutralizing a distinction that might make the Democrat appealing. Or, it could be seen as hurting McCain by leaving him to defend a more hard-line position than the current Republican president's.
While Iran has a small interest section in Washington, the two countries do not have diplomatic relations. The US has had no official presence in Tehran since the 1979 Islamic revolution and the hostage crisis. However, the Bush administration has continued to promote unofficial contacts with Iran. Late last month, the Treasury Department gave special permission to the private American-Iranian council to open an office in Tehran. The council intends to promote educational and cultural exchanges by hosting round-table discussions and conferences.
OhMyGov! inside sources note that having such unofficial and even official connections with rogue states is nothing new. Similar offices existed in Libya prior to the normalization of relations with that country in 2006. Now that the Bush administration has made the decision to make no decision on diplomacy with Iran, it will be up to the next president: either a man known for singing "bomb, bomb Iran" or one who promised to sit down with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without any preconditions.
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