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Senator John Kerry
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
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White House says won't oppose Kerry's visit to Iran

US administration said to support appointment of former presidential candidate as US envoy to Iran

Senator John Kerry might become the first high-level US envoy to visit Tehran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

 

According to the report, sources in the White House said they won't oppose Kerry's appointment, however the decision was yet to be made.

 

"This sounds like the kind of travel a chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee would – and should – undertake," said a White House official, adding it would be at Sen. Kerry's own behest.

 

Even if Kerry agrees to the appointment, it is still not clear whether Iran will accept his visit. Iran has recently rejected two American attempts to engage in direct talks with Tehran.

 

Amidst talks of an American delegation to Tehran, the US administration is planning to carry out the next rounds of sanctions against Iran – a step that might hinder the effectiveness and timing of such a delegation.

 

Many opponents of Tehran's regime oppose such a visit, fearing it would lend legitimacy to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a time when his government is under continuing pressure from protests and opposition figures.

 

"We've eschewed high-level visits to Iran for the last 30 years. I think now, when the Iranian regime's fate is less certain than ever, is not the best time to begin," said Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran analyst at Washington's Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

 

Last chance?

However, a visit by Sen. Kerry could provide the Obama administration a last-minute chance to directly convey its views to Iranian leaders before the US moves to increase financial pressure on Tehran in an effort to derail Iran's nuclear programs.

 

A spokesman for Iran's mission to the United Nations didn't respond to requests for comment on the potential visit., while a spokesman for Kerry's office said they cannot comment on such talks between the senator and the White House, and that Kerry was not planning a visit to Tehran.

 

The former presidential candidate has undertaken a string of diplomatic initiatives over the past year in coordination with President Barack Obama.

 

The Massachusetts Democrat played a high-profile role in brokering an end to Afghanistan's postelection political crisis this October through his negotiations with President Hamid Karzai.

 

He also has been serving as an intermediary between the White House and Syrian President Bashar Assad, and traveled to Damascus last February for direct talks.

 

Meanwhile, the Senate's Majority Leader Harry Reid announced he was commited to bring to the approval of the Iran sanction bill immediately after the Senate returns from recess.

 

The bill will further toughen the financial sanctions on Iran and companies who conduct business with it.

 


פרסום ראשון: 12.24.09, 20:03
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