Condi said hello (but she didn’t get to first base):
SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt (AP) – Iran’s foreign minister walked out of a dinner of diplomats where he was seated directly across from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on the pretext that the female violinist entertaining the gathering was dressed too revealingly. […]
Going into the summit, the Iraqi government had hoped for a breakthrough meeting between Rice and Mottaki. Instead, their only direct contact was a wary exchange of pleasantries over lunch Thursday, punctuated by a wry, somewhat mysterious comment by Mottaki. […]
The Iranian entered the lunch, greeting the gathered diplomats with the Arabic phrase, “As-salama aleikum,” or “Peace be upon you,” according to an Iraqi official who was present.
Rice replied to him in English, “Hello,” then added: “Your English is better than my Arabic,” according to the Iraqi official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the lunch was private.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit then piped in, telling Mottaki, “We want to warm the atmosphere some.”
Mottaki smiled and replied in English with a saying: “In Russia, they eat ice cream in winter because it’s warmer than the weather” – more or less meaning, “You take whatever atmosphere-warming you can get.”
“That’s true,” Rice replied, according to the Iraqi official.
(cont.)
Larijani met with Sistani and Maliki:
TEHRAN – Iranian Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani met with Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani in Najaf, Iraq on Tuesday.
Larijani, who arrived in Baghdad on Sunday for an unannounced three-day visit, told reporters that he discussed regional developments and ties between Iran and Iraq with Ayatollah Sistani, who is the most respected Shia religious leader in Iraq. […]
During his trip, the top Iranian security official has had talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi, and Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) Chairman Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim.
Iran is now Iraq’s reconstruction lender of choice:
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iran has extended $1 billion in credits for reconstruction projects in Iraq, a senior official said Tuesday ahead of an international conference on stabilizing Iraq.
Ali Larijani, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, said a committee of experts from both countries was discussing possible development projects, including some involving energy, the state-run news agency IRNA reported.
Negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program are still at a standstill:
VIENNA, Austria: A standoff pitting Iran against most others delegations at a 130-nation nuclear conference deepened Friday, with organizers adjourning the third straight session in as many days without breaking a deadlock over the language of the meeting’s agenda.
At issue is Tehran’s refusal to accept a phrase calling for the “need for full compliance with” the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
That position has delayed adoption of the agenda since the conference opened Monday. Tehran argues the language could lead it to become a target at the meeting because of its refusal to heed U.N. Security Council demands to cease uranium enrichment and other parts of its nuclear program that could be misused to make nuclear weapons.
President Ahmadinejad is still talking tough:
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said Iran was willing to discuss with the West how to maintain global security but it would not bargain over its right to pursue civil nuclear technology, the news network Khabar reported Friday.
… and he’s arrested one of his political opponents and Iran’s former nuclear negotiator on “security charges”:
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iranian authorities have arrested the country’s former nuclear negotiator, an ally of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s predecessor and key rival, and he reportedly could face an espionage charge. […]
“The probable charge of espionage activities may be raised against him,” the agency quoted an unidentified official as saying. “Mousavian was arrested because of connections and exchange of information with foreign elements.” […]
Mousavian was a member of the Iranian nuclear negotiating team until 2005 and before that served as Iran’s ambassador to Germany. He was a close ally of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Ahmadinejad, who defeated Rafsanjani in the last presidential elections, replaced the nuclear negotiating team, includingU.S. and its allies over Tehran’s nuclear program.
If Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was behind Mousavian’s arrest, it could be a sign that Rafsanjani and his allies were gaining ground on hard-liners, said Jon Wolfsthal, an international security expert at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. Wolfsthal noted that Khamenei tries to maintain the balance between the two sides.
Oddly enough, the Bush administration has remained mostly silent regarding Iran this week. I guess Condi convinced Bush to muzzle Cheney while she’s attending the Sharm el-Sheik conference regarding Iraq.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
((Iranian Nuclear program))
Ali Larijani