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Iran invites US to dinner to avert UN sanctions
[Al Arabiya Latest] In a surprise move, Iran invited all 15 U.N. Security Council members to dinner late on Thursday in New York, yielding one of the highest-level US-Iran contacts since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.Honest to Gawd. We do not make this stuff up. The contact was with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, who hosted an evening that was unexpected as it came in the midst of an escalating diplomatic crisis. U.N. ambassadors of the United States, Britain, France and Russia did not attend the dinner meeting with Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki organized by Iran's U.N. mission, but sent lower level diplomats. Washington was represented by Deputy Ambassador Alejandro Wolff. Nobody high level's going until its not BYOB. Most other council members sent ambassadors to the dinner at the Iranian ambassador's residence in Manhattan. They included Chinese Ambassador Li Baodong, the only chief of mission from the five permanent council members to attend. Japanese Ambassador Yukio Takasu indicated there had been no concrete outcome. "We are not here to negotiate, we are here to exchange frank general ideas," he told reporters through an interpreter. "There was no talk about sanctions. What is important is that most Security Council members are here." He added that Mottaki reiterated Iran's position "that it has the right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy." Wolff declined to comment except to say that "the dinner was very good." Other envoys left without speaking to journalists. Washington does not have formal diplomatic relations with Iran and rarely participates in meetings with Iranian officials outside of the United Nations. It was not immediately clear when a U.S. diplomat last attended a dinner or reception hosted by Iran. Posted by: Fred 2010-05-08 |
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