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| Home Front: Politix |
| Iranian Walks Out Of Dinner With Condi |
| 2007-05-04 |
| Hat Tip: Fark.com (CBS/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. "I don't know which woman he was afraid of, the woman in the red dress or the secretary of state," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Friday, regarding the actions of Iran's Manouchehr Mottaki. Rice herself was questioned by reporters about the lack of a direct conversation with Mottaki, even though it appeared she was "chasing" him. "Uh, well, you could ask him why he didn't make an effort," she replied. Then she laughed. "Look, I'm not given to chasing anyone." So the face to face between Rice and Mottaki never happened, reports CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata. Instead, U.S. and Iranian delegations met at a lower, "expert" level, which while significant, is not a first. "Our officials did, as they did in Baghdad, have an opportunity to exchange views about the substance of this meeting," Rice said. So much of this Iraq summit has been about the U.S. and Iran, but with good reason, reports D'Agata. America blames Iran for violence in Iraq, Iran blames America, and the Iraqis have been urging both countries to put their differences aside and put Iraq first. The dinner episode Thursday night amid a major regional conference on Iraq perfectly revealed how hard it was to bring together the top diplomats of the two rival nations. |
| Posted by:Delphi2005 |
| #6 Who knows what would have happened if Secretary Rice had accompanied the violinist upon the piano. The Secret Service might have needed to intervene. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2007-05-04 23:22 |
| #5 In 1900 diplomacy that would have been sufficient cause for a war. The Sec of State was insulted in person. Seconds prepare.. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2007-05-04 22:06 |
| #4 I prefer the short label CELLO-GATE to "The Stradivarius File/Enigma" or "The Violin in Red". |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-05-04 22:06 |
| #3 pussies |
| Posted by: Captain America 2007-05-04 21:37 |
| #2 Mottaki probable wanted Condi to throw a scarf on or maybe even a burka! In my opinion, she should have politely told him to go to hell. |
| Posted by: smn 2007-05-04 21:14 |
| #1 The dinner episode Thursday night amid a major regional conference on Iraq perfectly revealed how hard it was to bring together the top diplomats of the two rival nations. Nope. It revealed that the Iranians feel no compunctions about treating the US Secretary of State with contempt. |
| Posted by: markawarka 2007-05-04 20:44 |