In These New Times

I wonder if Britain share Israel’s concerns?? TEHRAN (FNA)- The question of whether the United States will open an interests section in Tehran will be decided by President George W. Bush himself in the coming month, senior government officials said Monday.

But, the truth is that Israel is following with concern the ongoing discussions in the US administration over the opening of a diplomatic interests section in Iran, although the Zionist regime claims that it has decided not to intervene for now and has not sent a clear message to the administration about it so far.

“Israel is surprised at the need to open an interests section and about the timing of the American move,” an Israeli government source in said.

Another source also said that discussions in the administration will reach their peak in the coming weeks. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Assistant Secretary of State William Burns are for the move. However, the source said, the decision is so important it will be decided by Bush himself.

The opening of a US interests section will have a major influence on Israel’s freedom of military movement vis-à-vis Iran.

Some confusion has been seen in Israel in recent weeks with regard to US policy toward Iran – the US has kept Israel minimally in the loop with regard to its policy change toward Iran.

“We don’t really know what the Americans are planning,” said another government source, who is close to the issue of Iran. “We receive reassuring messages from the Americans, but on the other hand questions arise in light of the intention to open an interests section.”

Last week Israel sought explanations from the United States through a number of channels with regard to the interests section. The approaches were made very delicately, with an emphasis on questions and requests for clarifications rather than protests or objections.

Burns said the goal of the move was to connect the American people with the Iranian people, and to better understand what is going on in Iran and show another face of America to Iran.

Israel and its close ally the United States accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, while they have never presented any corroborative document to substantiate their allegations. Both Washington and Tel Aviv possess advanced weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear warheads.

Iran vehemently denies the charges, insisting that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.

Iran has also insisted that it would continue enriching uranium because it needs to provide fuel to a 300-megawatt light-water reactor it is building in the southwestern town of Darkhoveyn as well as its first nuclear power plant in the southern port city of Bushehr.

Tel Aviv has recently intensified threats to launch military action against Iran to make Tehran drop what Israel alleges to be a non-peaceful nuclear program, while a recent report by 16 US intelligence bodies endorsed the civilian nature of Iran’s nuclear plans and activities.

Following the US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) and similar reports by the IAEA head – one in November and the other one in February – which praised Iran’s truthfulness about key aspects of its past nuclear activities and announced settlement of outstanding issues with Tehran, any effort to impose further sanctions or launch military attack on Iran seems to be completely irrational.

The February report by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, praised Iran’s cooperation in clearing up all of the past questions over its nuclear program, vindicating Iran’s nuclear program and leaving no justification for any new UN sanctions.

The UN nuclear watchdog has so far carried out at least 14 surprise inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites, but found nothing to support the allegations.

Observers believe that the shift of policy by the White House to send William Burns – the third highest-ranking diplomat in the US – to the talks with Iran happened after Bush’s attempt to rally international pressure against Iran lost steam due to the growing international vigilance.

US President George W. Bush finished a tour of the Middle East in winter to gain the consensus of his Arab allies to unite against Iran.

But hosting officials of the regional nations dismissed Bush’s allegations, describing Tehran as a good friend of their countries.

Many world nations have called the UN Security Council pressure against Iran unjustified, especially in the wake of recent IAEA reports, stressing that Tehran’s case should be normalized and returned to the UN nuclear watchdog due to the Islamic Republic’s increased cooperation with the agency.