US To Set Up Diplomatic Mission In Iran: Report

It's like The Telegraph didn't write about it last month... Reuters is reporting today that British paper, The Guardian, says the US will set up a diplomatic mission in Tehran. Below is an excerpt from today's unsourced report. Here's The Telegraph's report from June that says the US is "considering" diplomatic missions.

The US plans to establish a diplomatic presence in Tehran for the first time in 30 years as part of a remarkable turnaround in policy by President George Bush.

The Guardian has learned that an announcement will be made in the next month to establish a US interests section - a halfway house to setting up a full embassy. The move will see US diplomats stationed in the country.

What makes this latest report from The Guardian more believable than The Telegraph's? Well for starters, recently the Bush Administration has been making good on its double-talk by announcing that it will send senior State Department official, William Burns, to hear out Tehran in Switzerland this weekend. The Guardian points out the blatant contradiction between Bush's rhetoric and the action's his administration has been taking:

"Burns is to sit at the table with Iranian officials despite Bush repeatedly ruling out direct talks on the nuclear issue until Iran suspends its uranium enrichment programme, which is a possible first step on the way to a nuclear weapon capability."

And according to the Reuters article,

Senior U.S. diplomat William Burns said in testimony to Congress last week the United States was looking to opening up an interest section in Tehran but had not made a decision yet.

The Telegraph also notes that, "Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, said the idea had been floated within her department for several months."

This all comes at three days after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said talks with the US could happen "in the near future."

Comments

[bosshogg]

bush is an obamacon..­..........­..........­..........­.....

[Robespierre]

Wait, This can't happen!!! It's not in the McSame Playbook!!!!! Foul!!! ROTFLMAO!!!

[fact finder]

good.

[scouserinlondon]

Not an Embassy, a US INTERESTS section.
13th july, Iran announced discovery of new oil field holding 1.1 billion barrels.
Ass. Press reported it 2 days later.
Last 2 days Bush has been holding out little pinky to Iran.
Join the dots.....f­ollow the money.
Jest wundrin'..­..........­.

Me Bad.

[oogabooga]

The Decider is now the Appeaser? Huh? He's stealing Obama's ideas on Iran and McCain is stealing Obama's ideas on Afghanistan.

[watcher269]

This is only being done because of the price of OIL - and not on the Iranians side either! Otherwise the United States wouldn't touch this - Iran would still be on the same level as Cuba. If Cuba had Oil - Bush would have made Nicey Nicey with them too.

[getoffmedz]

Fake Republicans all over America are soiling themselves over this development.

heh

[southafrica4obama]

this will make Mcdifferent lose

[OmnesOmnibus]

This would be a wonderful development, long overdue and of course it's exactly what Obama has been calling for. (I wonder how McCain will try to spin it). Meanwhile, Condi Rice may just rehabilitate a portion of her tattered reputation (she has to go down as the worst National Security Advisor in American history) with her last minute common sense moves on North Korea and, hopefully, now on Iran. I'm hoping she can achieve something in Israel as well. Let them take the credit for it as long as they get the results.

[KoolBreez]

Just don't overthrow democracy there againand then cry foul when we get what's coming to us.

[jeffp26]

What, no we are appeasing them?

Seriously, think about it, Obama is already having an effect on this country. So how wonderful will it be when he's actually elected????

[biglith]

Blood thirsty war-mongers won't get a chance to celebrate? Too bad.

[Troubledgoodangel]

I do not think that Sen. Obama should take any credit for President Bush's Administration. Millions of wise Americans have been advising President Bush to talk to Iran before Sen. Obama first gave it a thought!

[BobSF94117]

I wouldn't be too sure about that. Bush knows that Obama is going to be elected. His administration knows that diplomacy WILL BE the order of the day. They're just setting it up now so Bush can take the credit for getting America to start acting rationally vis-a-vis Iran. His heart's not in it, of course, but these last few months are about his "legacy" (and a very, very long list of pardons he's going to issue).

[gorgol]

Ah, but Bush didn't listen to any of them...unt­il OBAMA made it a campaign platform..­.cant you connect any dots at all???

[TheOneironaut]

O needs to jump on this!!

[BruntLIVE]

Hannity was wrong.

[getoffmedz]

Hannity matters NOT!

[Robespierre]

Who is Hannity?

[poco767b]

APPEASEMENT, APPEASEMENT!!!!!!
no?

[IneptitudePrideB4Fall]

Don't trust the Bushies. Remember all the "cooperation" Bush was extending to Hans Blix and his U.N. weapons' inspections? Remember Bush saying in late 2002/early 2003 that he hadn't made up his mind about whether or not to attack Iraq? Remember Bush saying in Downing Street Memo that he "would fix the facts to fit the policy"? Whatever Bush wants, Bush gets.

^^^^^^^

[deminmo]

And in 2003 he was setting up the plan to attack Iran,
it's called CONPLAN 8022.

[biglith]

No!

[Rog49Thomas]

Another Munich two months early.

How sad!

[archerofloaf]

I don't know how Republicans convince themselves that a Republican who talks to Iran is not an appeaser.

[Rog49Thomas]

When your ideology isn't reality based, anything is possible.

There are some people who can hold two contradictory thoughts in their heads at the same time and still function.

[fuzzwald]

...and still function.

Barely.