Slapping Away The Extended Glove
True to form, Iran has already rejected the U.S. overtures to open talks over their nuclear program:
The official Iranian news agency said Wednesday the U.S. offer to join in direct talks with Iran about its disputed nuclear program was “a propaganda move.”
The American proposal, a major policy shift after decades without official public contact between the two countries, was made conditional on Iran agreeing to stop its uranium enrichment activities.
“It’s evident that the Islamic Republic of Iran only accepts proposals and conditions that meet the interests of the nation and the country. Halting enrichment definitely doesn’t meet such interests,” IRNA said at the end of a dispatch reporting the offer of talks by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
There’s clearly a propaganda game going on here, alright, and it’s clear who’s playing it…but all the same, we made the offer, and the world can see the complete lack of seriousness that greeted it by the rejection the very same day…the glove may yet conform to the shape of a fist…
If you golf and bet with your golf mates you know that winning the bet is often accomplished in the negotiation of strokes prior to going off the first tee.
So now we’ve both made firm public statements that allow both sides to avoid the appearance of backing down. I suspect that meanwhile there are lower level, or back channel, discussions going on.
Or does that just make me a foolish optimist?