[R-G] American and Iranian diplomats hold brief, cordial meeting; Israel dismayed

[Sid Shniad]

http://www.thestar.com/SpecialSections/article/611562 



  

Toronto Star                                                                                                                   April 1, 2009 





  

Iran, U.S. diplomats show signs of cordiality 





  

Agents of bitter rivals have private, 'unplanned' chat and 'agree to stay in touch' 





  

Arthur Max, Anne Gearan 

Associated Press 





  

The Hague – Top U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke had a brief but cordial meeting with Iran's deputy foreign minister yesterday at an international conference on Afghanistan, marking another step in unlocking 30 years of tense relations. 





  

The meeting between Holbrooke, Washington's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Iran's Mehdi Akhundzadeh came on the sidelines of a meeting where Iran pledged to help the reconstruction of its neighbour but criticized U.S. plans to send more troops into Afghanistan. 





  

Holbrooke's meeting “did not focus on anything substantive. It was cordial, it was unplanned and they agreed to stay in touch,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said as the daylong conference was winding down. 





  

The Canadian government, meanwhile, used the conference to announce it had brokered a deal to bolster the anarchic Afghanistan-Pakistan border. 





  

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said at the conference yesterday that the two countries had agreed to timelines and objectives for bringing order to their lawless frontier. The border has been a source of tension between the two for generations – most recently with back-and-forth movements by insurgents. 





  

“Ultimately what we want is a functional border between two countries,” Cannon said. 





  

The gathering was being closely watched for signs that the United States and Iran can work together after years of hostility. The two countries co-operated in 2001 and 2002 after U.S.-led forces ousted Afghanistan's Taliban government. 





  

But relations were frozen during the administration of U.S. president George W. Bush, who referred to Iran as part of the “axis of evil,” although Bush's former secretaries of state, Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell, had informal contacts with Iran. Washington broke diplomatic ties with Tehran after the U.S. embassy was overrun and diplomats taken hostage during the 1979 Islamic Revolution. 





  

Clinton said she also sent Iran a direct letter concerning three U.S. citizens unable to return from Iran: Robert Levinson, Roxana Saberi and Esha Momeni. Their return would be a humanitarian gesture, the letter said. Normally, U.S.-Iran contacts are conducted through Swiss intermediaries. 





  

The private meeting between American and Iranian officials was the first sign of cordiality. Although they sat at the same horseshoe-shaped table, neither Clinton nor Akhundzadeh made mention of the other in their speeches. 





  

With files from The Canadian Press