(CNN) Iranian official offers glimpse from within: A desire for U.S. ally

[sabra]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/02/21/btsc.iran.amanpour/index.html

Iranian official offers glimpse from within: A desire for U.S. ally

• Senior official offers interpretation of religious leaders' view of United States
• Says cooperation, not conflict, is desire of key leaders, including Khamenei
• Wish for nuclear program is to show strength and independence, he says
• Not all in government agree with the view, unnamed official adds
By Christiane Amanpour
CNN

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- As I sat down recently with a senior Iranian government official, he urgently waved a column by Thomas Friedman of The New York Times in my face, one about how the United States and Iran need to engage each other.

''Natural allies,'' this official said.

It was a surprising choice of words considering the barbs Washington and Tehran have been trading of late.

"We are not after conflict. We are not after crisis. We are not after war," said this official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "But we don't know whether the same is true in the U.S. or not. If the same is true on the U.S. side, the first step must be to end this vicious cycle that can lead to dangerous action -- war."

...

But he insisted he was describing the thinking at the highest levels of the religious leadership -- the center of decision-making power in Iran.

I asked whether he meant Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei himself.

"Yes," he said.

[fooj]

1. Amanpour is an authentic journalist.

Glad she is fighting to get the truth out.

[sabra]

2. remember this? "Did Bush wiretap CNN's Christiane Amanpour? "

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/01/did-bush-wiretap-cnns-christiane.html

Did Bush wiretap CNN's Christiane Amanpour?
by John in DC · 1/04/2006 02:09:00 PM ET
Discuss this post here: Comments (121) · digg it · reddit · FARK · · Link

FURTHER UPDATE: NBC has now deleted the paragraphs of the interview dealing with Amanpour. Very very interesting.

UPDATE: Read our follow-on to this story here.

From NBC News:

New York Times reporter James Risen first broke the story two weeks ago that the National Security Agency began spying on domestic communications soon after 9/11. In a new book out Tuesday, "State of War," he says it was a lot bigger than that. Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell sat down with Risen to talk about the NSA, and the run-up to the war in Iraq....

Mitchell: Do you have any information about reporters being swept up in this net?

Risen: No, I don't. It's not clear to me. That's one of the questions we'll have to look into the future. Were there abuses of this program or not? I don't know the answer to that

Mitchell: You don't have any information, for instance, that a very prominent journalist, Christiane Amanpour, might have been eavesdropped upon?

Risen: No, no I hadn't heard that.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

3. This is a major diplomatic outreach.

Make no mistake about that. This is how these sorts of things are done when there are no other lines of communication.

If the maladministration does not pick up on this and run with it, Congress must step in.

As an aside: There may be factionalism conflicts going on in Iran right now. One faction, in control of certain military elements and wanting to take the reins of power, may be roiling the waters. Other, more moderate factions may be trying to stay their precipitous behavior.

All in all, the US needs to engage Iran diplomatically and at the soonest.

[gorbal]

4. I agree

Perhaps congress could at least threaten to do something if Bush doesn't.

[Solo_in_MD]

5. This is nonsense

The mullahs will ally with none but there own.

[frankieT]

7. Why ?

Are you some kind of mullahs expert ? Please, I want to understand.

[ohio2007]

8. Why? bc it's Feb. 22nd

remember the deadline? You only have to follow the UN current events to see this "move" is going in the right direction.
In the long run, I would prefer to be allies with Iran and use that alliance with discussing internal wahibi matters with the House of Saud.

At least in certain sections of Tehran,women have a certain level freedom of expression that Saudi women only dream about.

Thats the direction this WOT needs to go.

[frankieT]

10. I totally agree with you

I was questioning the widespread view that Iran leaders are 100% extremist religious lunatics. Iran is an old country and even if iranian leaders don't satisfy our superior western standards they inherited a long tradition of subtle diplomacy.

[roamer65]

6. * is too stupid to realize this is a "Nixon goes to China" moment.

If he went to Iran and talked, he actually would begin to have a "legacy". But it isn't gonna happen. Like Chavez said, "He's a monkey with a razorblade".

[ohio2007]

9. Actually, it's more of a Kissinger shuttle diplomacy door opening

The media was the tool used between Sadat and the prime minister of Israel when they were each quoted as as saying in public they were willing to meet face to face and discuss peace.
Both on public record.

..the ball is in the DC beltway court now. See if there is a return volley.