DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - U.S.A./IRAN: A POLITICAL COUP FOR THE IRANIANS

IRANIAN DOUBLE-DEALING

May 30, 2007 -- THE first official face-to-face diplomatic talks between the United States and Iran in more than a quarter-century ended Monday. Less than a day later, Tehran announced formal espionage charges against three Americans there.

So much for those who pressured the Bush administration into sitting down with the Ahmadinejad government by insisting that Tehran can be persuaded to help in stabilizing war-torn Iraq.

Clearly, the talks came off as a political coup for the Iranian government. With the discussion limited to the situation in Iraq, the matter of Tehran's rapidly escalating nuclear-weapons program - and the threat it holds for regional security - didn't even get raised.

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker bent over backward to describe the talks with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Kazemi Qumi, as "positive," stressing Tehran's ostensible support for "a secure, stable, democratic, federal Iraq, in control of its own security."

Problem is, as Crocker also noted, Iran's continuing actions are completely at odds with its words. Indeed, Tehran is trying to destabilize the Iraqi government through its support of terrorist militias.

With Iran unwilling even to acknowledge its meddling in Iraq, it's hard to see just what direct talks accomplished.

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Pertinent Links:

1) IRANIAN DOUBLE-DEALING