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Defrosting Ties?

America Mulls Sending Diplomats to Tehran

During the lame-duck final months of his second term as US president, George W. Bush appears to be making a sudden about-turn on his hawkish policies towards Iran. According to a media report, Washington is planning to return its diplomats to Tehran for the first time in three decades.

Thirty years ago, the United States cut off all diplomatic ties with Tehran, but according to a newspaper report on Thursday, Washington is soon planning to set up shop again in Iran for the first time since 1979. The Iranian government is reportedly unopposed to the move.

Three decades after the hostage crisis and the Iranian Revolution, Britain's Guardian newspaper is reporting that the Bush administration has plans to re-establish diplomatic representation in Iran. The decision is expected to be announced in August, and it would represent a clear shift in political strategy for lame-duck US President George W. Bush -- who in the past has taken a hard-line position against Iran.

Washington terminated diplomatic ties with Iran following the hostage crisis of 1979-81, when radical students stormed the US Embassy in Tehran and held 55 US diplomats hostage for 444 days.

Initially, Washington is said to be planning a US Interests Section similar to its modest diplomatic representation in Cuba, the British paper's Washington correspondent reported on Thursday, citing no sources. Essentially, that's a "halfway house" towards the establishment of a permanent US Embassy in Tehran, the paper said. Last week, William Burns, a senior State Department official, informed Congress that the government was mulling that step. The special interests section would technically be part of the Swiss Embassy -- Switzerland has represented US diplomatic interests in Tehran since Washington shut down its mission -- but it would carry out the functions of a full embassy.

EU Pleased about Development

"We are awaiting the formal announcement from Washington and, if this is the case, we are very pleased by the administration's decision," Cristina Gallach, spokesperson for the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, told the New York Times. "It is a clear signal to the Iranians of the engagement of the United States and its commitment to pursue a negotiated solution. At the same time, it is a clear message to the Iranians of the seriousness of this exercise."

During the past seven years, Bush has sought to isolate Iran with his hard-line policies. And in recent weeks reports have been circulating that the US wants to stage a military attack against Iran in order to halt its nuclear program. Iran claims it is enriching uranium for use in civilian atomic energy programs, but Washington suspects it is trying to build a nuclear bomb. But in the last days of his administration Bush is said to want to leave behind a "positive legacy," a desire that the Guardian has attributed to what it described as a "remarkable turnaround in policy."

The return of diplomats to Tehran is contingent on approval from Iran, but President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad indicated earlier this week he would having nothing against the presence of a US diplomatic delegation. Iran, he said, would favorably consider any request aimed at boosting relations between Washington and Tehran.

The apparent decision to open a US Interests Section is part of a double turnabout. After decades of refusing to hold high-level bilateral talks with Iran, the Bush administration is now sending an envoy who will meet with an Iranian negotiator.

A high-ranking State Department representative is expected to participate in direct talks with Iran over its nuclear program in Geneva on Saturday. Burns, who is the State Department's third highest-ranking official, is expected to meet with the EU's Solana as well as Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili. Talks are expected to address a proposal for Iran to halt its uranium enrichment efforts put forward by the five United Nations Security Council veto-wielding members and Germany in mid-June.

Iran has denied Western accusations that it is developing a nuclear weapon under the guise of a civilian atomic power program. Tehran has also steadfastly refused to abandon its uranium enrichment program.

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