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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iran invites US to dinner to avert UN sanctions |
| 2010-05-08 |
| [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 |
| #12 same to you Frank |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-05-08 15:53 |
| #11 Sorry Frank. I'll sign off. I tend to be impulsive. GL and gawd speed to 'ye. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2010-05-08 15:34 |
| #10 Ship :-( *shakes head, sadly* |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-05-08 15:29 |
| #9 LOL. Try not to OS. Also 2.4.... 2nd graders got that. :) Note to moderators... he's a liar. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2010-05-08 15:27 |
| #8 Shitman, have you ever contributed anything other than noise? |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2010-05-08 15:14 |
| #7 Naw they probably served idiot on a bun. Note to moderators.... I didn't mean to point out anything. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2010-05-08 14:54 |
| #6 Try the dioxin soup. It's delish. |
| Posted by: ed 2010-05-08 11:58 |
| #5 To quote President Reagan: "When these guys have you for dinner, they really have you for dinner." |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2010-05-08 11:54 |
| #4 Betcha they serve fried chicken and watermelon, being the culturally sensitive types that they are. (not to moderators: its meant as an insult to the Iranians cultural insensitivity, not to our black president). |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2010-05-08 10:55 |
| #3 "Waiter - I'll have the bacon and scallops for the appetizer..." |
| Posted by: Raj 2010-05-08 08:53 |
| #2 International Islamic Sons of Pigs and Monkeys Conference with "special guest™" "Cheech" Ahmadinejad |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-05-08 00:48 |
| #1 wow.. Iran must really be concerned about these new sanctions. Charm offensive and Ammadijehead both in one week. I say we implement anything that bothers them. |
| Posted by: Mike Hunt 2010-05-08 00:29 |