Planting Flag in Iran Would Be Good for US

Political heat worth the contact office, however small, would bring
By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 23, 2008 3:18 PM CDT
Planting Flag in Iran Would Be Good for US
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad clenches his fist as he delivers a speech.   (AP Photo)

President Bush is considering opening a small US office in Iran, Fred Hiatt writes in the Washington Post, a move that could spur contact with citizens—and perhaps the hostile regime. "It's not a softening," one official said of the proposed interest section, steps below a full embassy. "It does allow us to reach out to youth groups, to talk to dissidents. It's something the regime wouldn't like."

Bush is trying to hand over a foreign policy “on something of an even keel,” and with Iraq’s fortunes improving, Iran “sticks out.” Concludes Hiatt, "President Bush would be doing his successor, whoever he is, a favor by putting this forward now and taking the political heat—which would probably turn out to be lukewarm in any case." (More Iran stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X