Haaretz reports that diplomatic relations with Iran will be declared by President Bush after the election, restoring formal talks with the two countries for the first time since 1979. The wait until after Nov. 4 to announce the decision would hope to eliminate this as a political issue.
If true, this report comes at a time that would not benefit John McCain. Unnamed "U.S. civil servants" were quoted as saying Bush wanted to avoid the announcement until after the election in order to avoid having the candidates deal with the move. In other words, Bush would like to provide cover for the McCain campaign to avoid answering questions on a move seemingly at odds with the Senator's foreign policy.
While the timing of the leak/report is curious, it has been noted on Politico and elsewhere that Bush staffers aren't fully supportive of the McCain campaign, citing John's increasing attacks on the administration as well as the Palin pick. Could administration officials who are knowledgeable of this issue really be leaking this to the detriment of John McCain?
In the first stage, the American administration allegedly seeks to appoint a low-level diplomatic delegation, and has already started the recruitment process. Tehran has already been informed of the initiative, but its view on the matter remains unclear. Similar reports were published a few months ago, but the plan was then put on hold.
U.S. sources said the purpose of the diplomatic effort is to better communicate American messages to the Iranian people, which are largely hostile to the U.S. They said that it does not signal a conciliatory approach to the Iranian regime or any change of policy vis-à-vis the contentious issues that are on the table, namely Iran's nuclear program.
The President wanting the candidates to avoid the controversial issue that clearly favors Obama is one thing, but the report less than two weeks before the election says something itself. Do others doubt that this report is indeed valid, or is it really every man for himself in the Republican Party right now?