Iran: US will seek green light to open base in Tehran

Ewen MacAskill
London Guardian
Friday, July 18, 2008

The Bush administration said yesterday that it welcomed the prospect of increased "people-to-people" contact between Americans and Iranians, as it pushed ahead at speed with plans to establish a diplomatic presence in Tehran.

The White House and the State Department refused to deny a Guardian report that a decision has been taken to set up a US-interests section in Tehran, marking the first return of its diplomats to the city since the 1979-81 Iranian revolution.

A source familiar with the decision-making said the Bush administration has either already, or would over the next few days, lodge a formal request with the Iranian government to set up an interests section, a halfway-house to an embassy.

Sean McCormack, the US state department spokesman, responded to questions from reporters by saying: "We are not going to discuss the internal workings of the US government."

But he went on to pave the way for an announcement by saying that the US is keen to encourage "people-to-people exchanges" and listed a series of contacts between Americans and Iranians, including visits by artists and a planned trip by Iran's Olympic team to the US.

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