Iran officials make Washington visit

UNITED NATIONS – On the same day the Obama administration opened up talks with Iran in Geneva on its nuclear "research" program, Tehran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, told reporters at the United Nations he had just returned from an unannounced visit to Washington, D.C.

The timing of the first direct face-to-face talks between U.S. and Iranian diplomats since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the first visit of a high-ranking Iranian official to Washington in over 30 years have led some diplomats to believe that Tehran is seeking to avoid a confrontation with the new White House.

"I have just returned from a visit to our interests section (in Washington, D.C.). There is a large number in the Iranian community (in Washington) and the Islamic Republic of Iran takes its priorities of explaining its policies to the Iranians," Mottaki said today.

It was only last Friday at the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh that President Barack Obama revealed the existence of a secret uranium enrichment facility in the mountains near the ancient Iranian city of Qom.

The U.S. claimed that such a facility was further proof that Tehran is secretly developing an atomic bomb.

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The revelation was followed by warnings from Obama, U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, that the Qom facility must be immediately opened to international inspections, or Iran would face new sanctions in the U.N. Security Council.

Mottaki stressed that while the U.S. and the Islamic Republic have no diplomatic relations, cultural relations dating back to the time of the late Shah had continued and were the reason for the visit.

But Mottaki refused to say whether any "unofficial" contact with administration officials took place during the brief visit.

The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that Mottaki did meet with "two leading" congressmen on Capitol Hill, but did not identify them.

Iran's "interests" section in Washington is housed in the Pakistan embassy.

On the meetings in Geneva, Mottaki called the atmosphere "constructive" and an improvement from indirect contacts held with U.S. officials during the Bush administration.

"We are not going to lose any opportunities to address these issues ... for a comprehensive and holistic solution," he said.

The foreign minister insisted that the timing of the revelation of the Qom facility "was in conformity" with the regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency (the U.N. atomic watchdog).

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IAEA officials have said the Iranian statement is a "stretch," and that agency legal staff is undertaking a review to determine if Tehran has broken any protocols.

"Other than the (legal) review, we have received no further guidance (on the Iranian controversy)," explained an agency official who requested confidentiality.

Former U.S./U.N. ambassador John Bolton, who also headed the arms control section at the state department in the administration of George W. Bush, was not impressed by Mottaki's statements:

"Yet again, Iran appears to be well on the way to seducing Western diplomats by vague generalities and promises to meet again. Iran is simply gaining more time to advance its nuclear and ballistic missile programs," he said.

Mottaki grew visibly irritated by repeated questions regarding vote fraud in the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last June.

"We had more than 40,000 monitors, how could anyone cheat?" he asked.

"We used the same system that elected (Ali Hashemi) Rafsanjani, (Mohammad) Khatami and Ahmadinejad (the first time) and nobody raised objections then."

One question the foreign minister would not address was the arrest of an Iran/U.N. mission staffer by the New York City Police Department last Friday.

Gholamzadeh Hossein was arrested by the NYPD after attacking a demonstrator who was protesting the visit of Ahmadinejad to the United Nations on Sept. 24.

Hossein, who had an initial court appearance on Wednesday, faces a second-degree assault charge with a penalty of up to seven years in prison.

His next court appearance is December 29.

In the interim, Hossein has been released on his own recognizance, but his passport was confiscated.