Is the US set to establish diplomatic presence in Iran?

When US troops failed to roll into Syria in the spring of 2005, I realized there was no grand strategy on the war on Islamist terrorism. Iraq represented a one-off with no real goals or objectives beyond Iraq. The invasion of Iraq was simply that – the invasion of Iraq rather than one domino falling in place as part of a master plan to tackle the terror masters in Tehran.

It was from that point that I came to conclude there would be no US attack on Iran unless Iran seriously compromised US interests at home or abroad. Even the various captures of Iranian Republican guard personnel in Iraq did not dissuade me from this belief as the US Administration deliberately failed to maximize or capitalize on those various captures. This, played into the Iraqi one-off scenario rather than acting as a prelude to the next necessary steps.

This put me seriously out of sync with most of my warmongering contemporaries. In the waning days of the Bush Administration I still cannot see find any evidence that the US has begun taking the next steps necessary to a prelude to an attack on Tehran – again unlike most of my contemporaries. In fact, all I see are signs that the US Administration intends to leave the terror masters in Tehran unmolestated and has resigned itself to the possibility of a nuclear armed Iran.

So this report from the UK Guardian does not come entirely out of left field or appear so out of sync with my own perceptions of the Bush Administration’s plans:

The US plans to establish a diplomatic presence in Tehran for the first time in 30 years as part of a remarkable turnaround in policy by President George Bush.
The Guardian has learned that an announcement will be made in the next month to establish a US interests section - a halfway house to setting up a full embassy. The move will see US diplomats stationed in the country.

The news of the shift by Bush who has pursued a hawkish approach to Iran throughout his tenure comes at a critical time in US-Iranian relations. After weeks that have seen tensions rise with Israel conducting war games and Tehran carrying out long-range missile tests, a thaw appears to be under way.

The White House announced yesterday that William Burns, a senior state department official, is to be sent to Switzerland on Saturday to hear Tehran's response to a European offer aimed at resolving the nuclear standoff.

Burns is to sit at the table with Iranian officials despite Bush repeatedly ruling out direct talks on the nuclear issue until Iran suspends its uranium enrichment programme, which is a possible first step on the way to a nuclear weapon capability.

The irony of it all floors me. Who would have thought that after almost 30 years it would be the Bush Administration who would grant international legitimacy to the Mullah’s Iranian revolution? And to the Israelis I would say – you have no friends and the sooner you accept this, the easier it will be to stand separate and apart. A place in exile does not exist for you. Govern yourselves accordingly and seek only your own best interests without regard to outside considerations or interests.