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05/26/2003 Archived Entry: "Official: U.S. to consider destabilizing Iran"

THEY SET THE GROUND RULES SO THEY SHOULDN'T COMPLAIN: CNN reports that the Bush administration is considering taking a new approach to Iran. The hardline approach will see the United States attempt to destablize the Iranian government.

Senior Bush administration officials, including the deputy secretaries of defense and state, are scheduled to meet Tuesday to discuss Iran, the official said.

Iranian officials said Sunday that the United States has cut off discussions with the Tehran government that encompassed a range of issues, levying what the Iranians called false accusations that Iran provided a haven for al Qaeda members.

Last week, a Bush administration official told CNN that Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N. special envoy to Afghanistan, met with Iranian officials Thursday in Geneva, Switzerland. During the meeting, the official said, the Iranians said they had several al Qaeda operatives in custody, including one who might have coordinated the recent terrorist bombings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

About bloody time. The U.S. should have adopted a small carrot/really big stick approach to Iran years ago when the first signs of dissent by Iran's citizens were reported. That said, I'm reasonably sure that some bearded dudes in Tehran are pretty nervous right now.