U.S. Stationing Diplomats in Iran

Outside the Beltway by James Joyner | Jul. 17, 2008 (Opinion)

The fact of the matter is that we have had diplomatic relations with the Iranian government in all but name throughout this period. Indeed, we negotiated the release of our Embassy hostages. Less happily, the Reagan administration engaged in a convoluted and illegal sale of arms to the Iranians in exchange for cash to illegally support the Nicaraguan Contras. And the Bush administration, despite saber rattling, has obviously been talking as well. Full Story »

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by James Canning - Oct. 1, 2008

Iran helped the Bush administration to plan and carry out the overthrow of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and was rewarded by being included in Bush's absurd "axis of evil". This is not mentioned in the article, which also does not make sufficiently clear the fact that Iran years ago suggested the restoration of normal diplomatic relations between the US and Iran, but this approach was spurned by the Bush administration. The article might have mentioned that achieving stability in Afghanistan probably is impossible without help from Iran. Not having a working embassy in Tehran impedes effective cooperation with the Iranians.