Will Bush Admin Accept Iran's Peace Overtures?

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Sunday March 02, 2008 · 2:47 PM PST

2008/03/02 · 14:47

As stated last week in a Diary titled, Iran Offers Nuclear Deal, on Feb. 24, 2008, Iran offered to ACCEPT the Additional Protocol that would impose a regimen of intrusive inspections on Iran's nuclear activities. Submission to the Additional Protocol is conditioned on removal of Iran's nuclear file from the UN Security Council, to be monitored by the IAEA.

Dr. Dalia Dasso Kaye of RAND Corporation made a similar suggestion at an address to the World Affairs Council in Pittsburgh, PA in December, 2007.

But a number of signals suggest that, consistent with its intransigent behavior regarding Iraq, the Bush administration will hold to its ideologically-driven "carrots and sticks" approach, whose real goal is to at least bankrupt and possibly militarily attack Iran, rather than take a giant step into a future of a cooperative relationship with Iran.

In a speech sponsored by Pittsburgh's United Jewish Federation, Patrick Clawson, colleague of Daniel Pipes and Michael Ledeen, stated that he doubted that "carrots and sticks" would work because Iran would consider any "carrots the US offered to be poison."

Orpheus

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Friday February 29, 2008 · 8:48 AM PST

2008/02/29 · 08:48

According to a CASMII Press Release dated 28 February 2008, following on reports from the Mehr News Agency on Feb. 24, 2008, Iran has:

agreed to accept and observe the Additional Protocol if its nuclear file is returned back to the IAEA jurisdiction from the UN Security Council.

The Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII)Press Release says:

In the wake of the latest report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), clearing Iran of all the outstanding issues from its own work plan of August 2007

CASMII

appeals to the 5+1 group to positively consider Iran’s offer of implementing the Additional Protocol and enter into unconditional negotiations with Iran.

Poll

25 votes Show Results

Will Bush ignore another chance for unconditional negotiations w Iran?

25 votes Vote Now!

Will Bush ignore another chance for unconditional negotiations w Iran?

No, he will not ignore this offer; Bush is mature & will enter into unconditional negotiations

1 vote

Yes, Bush will ignore Iran's offer like he did Iran's 2003 offer of peace

24 votes

Iran to help rebuild Baghdad

Orpheus

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Thursday February 28, 2008 · 7:32 PM PST

2008/02/28 · 19:32

As reported on Yahoo.com on Feb. 25, 2008,

Tehran signs pact to help rebuild Baghdad

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Tehran on Monday signed an agreement with Baghdad to help execute projects in the infrastructure and services sectors in the Iraqi capital.

The Yahoo article continues:

Orpheus

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Saturday February 23, 2008 · 4:41 AM PST

2008/02/23 · 04:41

Dr. Davood Rahni is a New York resident and Iranian-American scholar and university professor.
Attorney and Iranologist Johanna Sturbin interviewed Prof. Rahni for the popular web site Iranian.com on November 21, 2007. With his permission, that interview is printed here in its entirety, in two parts. Part I was posted on Feb. 21, 2008: Prof. Rahni on Iran-US Relations, Part I.
This is Part II of the Interview. In this sequence of seven questions, Prof. Rahni discusses how Islam came to Iran and the unique inflection that Iranians give to Islam; the tensions within Islam, and the tensions between Arabs and Iranians; and the legacy of Iran's encounters with Russia, Great Britain, the US, and Israel. Finally, Sturbin asks Prof. Rahni for his perspective on the future of Iranian relations with the US.

Orpheus

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Thursday February 21, 2008 · 8:13 AM PST

2008/02/21 · 08:13

Today's Diary includes five of the twelve questions Sturbin posed to Dr. Rahni, and encompass Rahni's personal background and life in Iran, then in the US; a sketch of Iran's history and its people, their Zoroastrian and other religious traditions and their long and generally favorable history with Jews and Israel. Next, Ms. Sturbin guides Rahni to relate that cultural heritage to Iran's more recent quest for independence and nationhood, and its encounters with the West in that quest.

To close this first part, Rahni reflects on how Iranians incorporate their experiences of American and British involvement in Iran with their current, generally positive attitude toward Americans.

Step below for Part I,
East-West bridge

Orpheus

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Wednesday February 20, 2008 · 9:36 AM PST

2008/02/20 · 09:36

I count myself among those who oppose not only military action against Iran but also economic sanctions and any other form of punishment of Iran and even propaganda-based approaches to attempting to reshape Iran in the image and likeness of the United States and Israel.

Economic sanctions -- warfare by other means, have been approved by the US Congress in HR 1400. Orange County, California Republican Representative Ed Royce explained in an appearance on C-Span that the goal of HR 1400 is to completely destabilize the Iranian economy so that the Iranian people will riot and overthrow their government.

Against the pleas of Iranian scholar Dr. Haleh Esfandiari and Iranian Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, among others, propaganda-based approaches to destabilizing Iran were once again funded by action of the US Congress.

These are actions that a growing number of Americans are demanding NOT be taken against Iran.

What actions should the US be taking regarding Iran?

Poll

23 votes Show Results

How should the US relate to Iran

23 votes Vote Now!

How should the US relate to Iran

Kill as many Iranians as possible, then there will be peace

1 vote

Encourage MEK to kill as many Iranians as possible - the Ackerman approach

0 votes

Destabilize Iran so that Iranians will kill their fellow Iranians; then there will be peace

1 vote

Conduct covert operations operations in Iran to show Iranians we're smarter than they are

0 votes

Invite Iranians to the US to tell us about their country

0 votes

Travel to Iran to learn about the country

0 votes

Bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb Iran; Elect McCain!

0 votes

Engage in dialogue with Iran that includes honesty and Listening

14 votes

Butt out of Iran; they can reform their own society

5 votes

Pie

2 votes

Tancredo morphing into Feith to gin up Iran war?

Orpheus

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Tuesday February 19, 2008 · 12:45 PM PST

2008/02/19 · 12:45

Ali G. Scotten reported for National Iranian American Council (NIAC) on Feb. 14, 2008 that

The Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) held a large event in the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday as part of its lobbying effort to be removed from the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations. The event, which was organized by the MEK and sponsored by Representative Tom Tancredo’s (R-CO) Iran Human Rights and Democracy Caucus, invited Congressional staffers and members of the general public to learn about the organization’s activities.

Orpheus

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Monday February 11, 2008 · 11:33 AM PST

2008/02/11 · 11:33

Authors Stephen Kinzer, Trita Parsi, and Barbara Slavin are almost half-way through their five-weeks-long, coast-to-coast tour of the United States.

Sponsored by Just Foreign Policy, the goals of the authors are:

~To Educate Americans on the facts of Iran's 100-year long quest to establish its own democratic government, a quest that has been stymied by the US and/or Great Britain on more than one occasion;

~To Refute the campaign of demonization that the Bush administration and others are waging against Iran; and

~To Advocate for just and unconditional diplomatic relations between the US and Iran.

Here's how they are going about achieving their goals:

Orpheus

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Saturday January 19, 2008 · 11:56 AM PST

2008/01/19 · 11:56

Carah Ong at Iran Nuclear Watch has scooped the MSM once again, with the news that Rep. Barbara Lee, D-CA, has introduced a Bill called the Iran Diplomatic Accountability Act of 2008, the goal of which is:

To provide for the appointment of a high-level United States representative or special envoy for Iran for the purpose of easing tensions and normalizing relations between the United States and Iran.

Democratic Representative Barbara Lee's action is doubly important in view of the announcement of the resignation of Nicholas Burns, Condoleezza Rice's "right-hand man" and the lead negotiator in past dealings regarding Iran and UN activities.

Orpheus

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Wednesday January 16, 2008 · 4:06 PM PST

2008/01/16 · 16:06

Just Foreign Policy is a relatively new think tank that advocates Achieving A Just Foreign Policy Based on Cooperation, Law and Diplomacy.

Imagine.

Key staffers at Just Foreign Policy include:
* Sebastian Anti, Fellow
* Patrick McElwee, Policy Analyst
* Chelsea Mozen, National Co-Coordinator
* Robert Naiman, Senior Policy Analyst, National Coordinator
* Benjamin Phillips, Ethiopia Fellow

Robert Naiman is leading the drive to DEMAND that Congress investigate the manipulation and deceit that are at work behind the affair FishOutofWater discusses here. Naiman's call to action is below the fold.

Orpheus

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Monday January 14, 2008 · 6:33 AM PST

2008/01/14 · 06:33

In a 2004 Salon magazine article, How Ahmed Chalabi Conned the Neocons, journalist John Dizard reported on the connection between Chalabi and Douglas Feith and Feith's Jerusalem-based law partner, Marc Zell. Dizard explains the centerpiece of the collaboration, in the words of the now-embittered Zell:

Zell outlines what Chalabi was promising the neocons before the Iraq war: "He said he would end Iraq's boycott of trade with Israel, and would allow Israeli companies to do business there. He said the new Iraqi government would agree to rebuild the pipeline from Mosul in the northern Iraqi oil fields to Haifa the Israeli port, and the location of a major refinery." But Chalabi, Zell says, has delivered on none of them.

In the early days of its statehood, Israel and Iran were business partners in a highly lucrative oil transport and supply operation that fell apart in 1979.

Here's how that Iran-Israel oil supply arrangement came about, fell apart, and became the subject of lawsuits which were decided in Iran's favor, but which Israel has not yet paid.

Poll

31 votes Show Results

Should Israel pay the damages awarded to Iran by the Courts and Arbitrators?

31 votes Vote Now!

Should Israel pay the damages awarded to Iran by the Courts and Arbitrators?

Yes

20 votes

11 votes

Letter to Capt Rogers of the Vincennes

Orpheus

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Sunday January 13, 2008 · 8:42 PM PST

2008/01/13 · 20:42

In 1988, during the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq, the high-tech cruiser USS Vincennes was stationed in the Persian Gulf as part of a Joint Task Force. On July 3 of that year, the ship's commander, Capt. Will Rogers III, apparently mistook a civilian Iranian airbus for an attacking war plane. He ordered his crew members to fire. The airbus was shot down, killing all 290 passengers and crew members.

A friend who had just returned from a "People's Peace Delegation" trip to Iran, cosponsored by the Virginia Anti-War Network and The Richmond Defender newspaper, met with Naval Capt. Habib Ahmadzadeh and several other members of Iran's navy, who discussed the destruction of the Iranian Airbus.
On the tenth anniversary of that tragedy, Capt. Ahmadzadeh was serving on a frigate in the Gulf when his ship passed over the submerged wreckage of the airbus. Capt. Ahmadzadeh took the occasion to write a letter to Capt. Rogers who, to date, has not responded.

With his permission and his hope that his letter can open a "genuine dialog among civilizations," Capt. Ahmadzadeh's letter is reproduced, below the fold.

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Will Bush Admin Accept Iran's Peace Overtures?

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Prof. Rahni on Iran-US Relations, Part I

On Dialogue with Iran: What Would Jesus Do?

Tancredo morphing into Feith to gin up Iran war?

The Folly of Attacking Iran

HR 5056: Iran Diplomacy Bill, Rep. Barbara Lee

INVESTIGATE Navy Iran Fraud says Just Foreign Policy

Israel, Oil, Iran: A 60 Year Long Struggle

Letter to Capt Rogers of the Vincennes