Meet the neighbors...Iraq's that is.
Bush administration officials held a rare private meeting with Iranian envoys in Europe last month to seek a promise of humanitarian help and an assurance that the Tehran government would not interfere in military operations if the United States goes to war against Iraq, U.S. officials said yesterday.
U.S. diplomats carrying a carefully designed message also asked Iran to join search-and-rescue missions for downed U.S. air crews, officials reported. They further requested that the Iranian government deny haven to fleeing Iraqis who might try to cross into Iran and regroup against a U.S.-supported government in Baghdad.
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In another development, the Bush administration has begun notifying U.S.-based humanitarian organizations that they will be issued licenses permitting them to work in Iran and northern Iraq. The groups will be surveying potential needs and positioning supplies in readiness for a potential conflict, said representatives of the organizations and the U.S. government.
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In last month's State of the Union address, Bush said the Iranian government "represses its people, pursues weapons of mass destruction and supports terror." Yet U.S. officials concluded that Iran should not be ignored in preparations for a potential conflict along its 904-mile border with Iraq.
U.S. envoys sought a measure of help while also reassuring the Iranians that a prospective war for control of Baghdad would not target them, said a U.S. official who was briefed on last month's mission. The U.S.-Iran meeting, which involved two U.S. officials steeped in the region's politics and history, coincided with a larger gathering on the future of Afghanistan that included U.S. and Iranian delegations.
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"We wanted to make clear to them that, just as we cooperated with them in Afghanistan, we'll cooperate with them in Iraq. We're able and willing to cooperate in Iraq," the official said. He added that the administration and the Iranians have been communicating regularly through partners in Europe and the Persian Gulf.
To solidify its pledge that it seeks a representative government elected by Iraqis, the administration has also noted its acceptance of Tehran-based Shiite Muslim leaders among the Iraqi opposition. Indeed, members of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, whose militias are trained by the Iranian military, were welcomed with other opposition figures to Washington last year.
Elsewhere yesterday, U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad tried to calm Kurds in northern Iraq by declaring that Turkish troops entering the region would report to a U.S. commander and would pose no threat. Kurdish groups fear Turkish forces may try to seize territory; the Turkish government worries that the Kurds may grab oil-rich zones in the north or seek political autonomy.
When it comes to this Iraq Campaign, it seems that Washington is trying to think of everyone and everything...I like it!
I suppose it's too much to hope that the Iranian clerics will come over with brownies or a bundt cake once we move into Baghdad, but these advance negotiations are a wonderful way to put our 21st Century relationship with the Iranians on a much better and more cooperative footing than it's been for over 20 years.
