“The United States has raised the possibility of opening a diplomatic interests section in Iran. To avoid giving the impression that the idea was an unqualified U.S. position, State Department officials carefully leaked word of an ongoing debate about the plan to the press. But the news was not met with immediate denial by U.S. officials. In fact, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice refused to rule the idea out — instead Rice said she preferred not to comment on internal U.S. deliberations.
“Hours after her statement, the official Iranian news agency said Iran was prepared, in principle, to consider the request if it is officially made by the United States. So, a week after word was leaked to The New York Times of Israeli maneuvers in preparation for a possible air strike on Iran, the Administration has opened a diplomatic door.
“Currently, American affairs in Iran are handled by the Swiss Embassy, without U.S. diplomats present. Under full diplomatic relations, which this new deal still would not be, the United States would have an embassy and ambassador in Tehran, and the Iranians would have one in Washington. This is a step short of diplomatic recognition. U.S. diplomats would be present in Tehran — and Iranians in Washington — but likely working under the auspices of the Swiss and Pakistani Embassies, which house their respective interest sections presently. The United States has this sort of arrangement with Cuba. It allows diplomatic presence and representation without full recognition.”
Yes, I know there’s been the European Cup and Spain’s win, and Barack Obama has doubtless said something or other recently. But seriously: isn’t this a more important piece of news than anything else in the past few weeks? It’s a complete reversal of a standard White House (and John McCain) position. It actually looks like …sanity.
Yes, it’s being denied, and it’s just a proposal, and it means nothing, and so on. But in regards to Iran, it means a heck of a lot. As the StratFor report makes plain, Israel’s manoeuvres in the Mediterranean aimed at displaying an air-strike capability on Iran were just a ploy. This, though, might be the real thing.