Of course Iran will try to get the upper hand, and by using Jr.'s own tactic of pre-emption... diplomatically. As it should.
While Iran may be using the martyr approach, they definitely have the upper hand and the former president is visiting the US as we speak.
Former Iran president faces snub in US
Mohammad Khatami, Iran’s former president, embarks on a ground-breaking tour of the US this week to promote his vision of the role of
religion in east-west reconciliation. But prospects for a breakthrough in US-Iranian relations appear bleak, with the Bush administration
declaring it will not speak to him or attend his events.
Mr Khatami, a Muslim cleric who no longer holds an official position, will attend a UN conference in New York next week, led by Spain and Turkey
under the Alliance of Civilisations initiative. He will also speak at the Washington National Cathedral,
becoming the highest-ranking Iranian politician to visit the US capital since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Harvard and Georgetown universities will
also host him.
...while conservatives in Iran are broadly in favour of launching dialogue with the US, hardliners in the US have expressed outrage at the Bush
administration’s granting of a visa to Mr Khatami, noting he was in office in 2002 when President George W. Bush denounced Iran as part of an
“axis of evil”.
Analysts said it appeared that Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, and Nicolas Burns, under-secretary, were in favour of allowing the visit to go
ahead, but did not have the will or political muscle to capitalise on the opportunity presented.
US spokesmen said officials would not meet Mr Khatami and would turn down invitations by the Washington cathedral to attend his address.
The boycott is in line with the Bush administration’s general rejection of high-level diplomatic engagement with countries deemed hostile to the US,
notably Iran, Syria, Cuba and North Korea.
Karim Sadjadpour, Iran analyst for the International Crisis Group, said it would be a mistake to see Mr Khatami’s mission as part of a public
relations effort by a weakened Iran worried about international sanctions. Iran was extremely confident in its position in the region and with regard
to the nuclear dispute, he said. “They believe time is on their side.”
They don't paint the visit in a very good light. Nor Condi and the State Dept, neither. Indeed,
Where's Karen
Hughes?, isn't this her job? Jimmy put out a hand, and I think Khatami knows how often the US has tried to screw them over. But the fact that
he's here and they're describing it as a religious outreach tells me that they know how to play the game too.
Naturally they'll turn down invitations to attend his address, the camera doesn't flatter red faces much, now does it? Wonder if CSpan will cover
them?
"We are great with TV but we are getting crushed on the P.R. [Public Relations] front." ---President George W. Bush
