May 26, 2007

U.S. and Iranian ambassadors plan to sit down Monday in Baghdad

Iran presents a difficult balancing act for those in power in the U.S and those seeking it. For President Bush, condemnation of Tehran's nuclear efforts must now be mixed with diplomacy. U.S. and Iranian ambassadors plan to sit down Monday in Baghdad in a rare direct meeting to discuss stabilizing Iraq.

Nearly all the 2008 presidential hopefuls want to sound strong in confronting Tehran's growing nuclear capability, its support of militant groups and its hostility to Israel. Yet they want to do so without frightening a war-weary U.S. public with new battle alerts.

One more U.S. military entanglement in the Middle East is not on anyone's political wish list.

The maneuvering comes against a backdrop of rising tensions. The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency last week accused Iran of accelerating its uranium enrichment program in defiance of international demands. President Bush said he would work with allies to toughen penalties against Tehran. Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, pledged there would be retreat.

The U.S. moved two aircraft carrier groups into the Persian Gulf in a show of force. Iran has detained several U.S. citizens, including a 67-year-old Iranian-American scholar who was visiting her ailing 93-year-old mother.

In all, hardly an auspicious prelude to the Baghdad talks that were supposed to offer a late spring thaw after a 27-year freeze in formal U.S.-Iran relations.

Iran is particularly difficult terrain for Democrats, who have made criticism of Bush's handling of the war in Iraq a centerpiece issue in the 2008 campaign and are advocating U.S. troop withdrawals.

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