The Obama administration has appointed veteran diplomat Dennis Ross to oversee efforts to address Iran's disputed nuclear work and other issues, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, Feb. 23).
(Feb. 24) -
Dennis Ross, shown in 2004, has been named as the State Department's lead adviser for addressing the Iranian nuclear crisis (Luke Frazza/Getty Images).
Despite the ambiguous title of the new post -- adviser to the secretary of state for the Gulf and Southwest Asia -- Ross is expected to focus directly on Iran and areas influenced by the Middle Eastern state, according to State Department sources. The United States and Western allies have long suspected that Iran's atomic activities are aimed at nuclear-weapon development, an allegation Tehran has steadfastly denied.
Ross handled Middle East peace issues in the first Bush and Clinton administrations. He "will provide to [Secretary of State Hillary Clinton] and senior State Department officials strategic advice and perspective on the region" and "coordinate with senior officials in the development and formulation of new policy approaches," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said in a release.
"This is a region in which America is fighting two wars and facing challenges of ongoing conflict, terror, proliferation, access to energy, economic development and strengthening democracy and the rule of law," he added in the statement, which does not refer specifically to Iran.
Preliminary contacts between Washington and Tehran should be conducted through a "direct, secret back channel," Ross wrote in an article published last September.
Keeping the dialogue secret, he said, "would protect each side from premature exposure and would not require either side to publicly explain such a move before it was ready. It would strike the Iranians as more significant and dramatic" (Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, Feb. 24).
Meanwhile, Iran has denied offering to reduce support for insurgent strikes on British military personnel in Iraq if the United Kingdom agreed to the legitimacy of Tehran's nuclear program, the Cybercast News Service reported yesterday. A British diplomat made the allegation in a recent BBC documentary.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran from the beginning of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq has played a role for the return of peace, stability and calm in these countries,” state media quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi as saying. Iranian officials met periodically with representatives of the international military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan to discuss efforts to promote stability in the war-torn nations, Qashqavi noted (Patrick Goodenough, Cybercast News Service, Feb. 23).
"Iran's peaceful nuclear activities are going on according to the schedule," the spokesman said, denying indications in an International Atomic Energy Agency report issued last week that the growth in Tehran's atomic activities has slowed (see GSN, Feb. 19).
Qashqavi defended the nuclear program's transparency, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
"Our cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency is based on the [Nuclear] Nonproliferation Treaty and its safeguards agreement," he said. "Nothing is concealed. We cooperate (with the IAEA) within the NPT and everything is clear and accurate" (Xinhua News Agency I, Feb. 23).
The Foreign Ministry also dismissed reports that former U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry met with a top adviser to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (see GSN, Feb. 2).
"No official or nonofficial talks were held between Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi and any U.S. official," he said (Xinhua News Agency II, Feb. 24).
Ahmadinejad has formalized his re-election bid, Xinhua reported yesterday.
"Ahmadinejad is the 10th presidential elections candidate in June," Iranian media quoted Hashemi as saying.
Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami announced earlier this month that he would run for the office. Khatami is widely considered a political reformer (Xinhua News Agency III, Feb. 23).
U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi yesterday urged Italy to help mediate the nuclear dispute, Agence France-Presse reported.
"We believe that it's important for us to have very tough sanctions, we have to be united internationally on that subject, and that Italy can use its good offices and its communications with Iran to help bring us to a resolution of that most important issue" Pelosi said (Agence France-Presse/Google News, Feb. 23).