HIGH-RANKING American officials have held secret talks with their Iranian counterparts to ease 23 years of diplomatic hostility and mistrust.
| Gawd. I hope they didn't send them a cake... |
The officials have met three times this year and are due to meet again in Geneva next week. The two sides have addressed Iraq and Afghanistan, Iranâs neighbours to the west and east, in unannounced meetings. They are held under the auspices of the United Nations, although UN officials usually leave both sides to conduct private talks. But both were at pains to emphasise yesterday, after the disclosure of their meetings, that they were not about to resume diplomatic ties, which were cut in 1980 after Iranian radicals held US Embassy staff hostage for 11 months.
| I think I'd wait for awhile, see what happens... |
Condoleezza Rice, President Bushâs National Security Adviser, said that there were âmany, many barriersâ to the resumption of diplomatic links with Iran, which is part of Mr Bushâs âaxis of evilâ. Influential figures in both capitals, however, are beginning to place the issue on the agenda. The former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani proposed last month that his country hold a referendum on resuming ties with the US. |