US TO REESTABLISH EMBASSY IN TEHERAN

"PJAK is until now continuing their struggle just with the support of the Kurdish people and the PKK. . . The PKK is the one who formed PJAK, who established PJAK and supports PJAK."
~ Cuma.

Ah, ah, ah, ah . . . what has KCK been saying for months? KCK has been saying that the US, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq are all cooperating against Kurdish freedom. Specifically, KCK said:

KCK draws attention to the possible US-Iranian cooperation in these attacks and calls such cooperation ironic. KCK stated: "Iranian president Ahmadinejad called Turkey and Iraq to cooperate with Iran against the Kurdish freedom movement, during his visit to Iraq some time ago. Later on, as a result of the Turkish-Iranian alliance and their delegates' meetings, the intelligence and reconnaissance forces of both countries became active on the border and over Qendil. All these activities pointed to a new, joint attack. Three days before the attacks, information was received that Turkey, Iran and Iraq had joined reconnaissance activities in PJAK's region. In addition to this, the attacks began after US surveillance aircraft collected intelligence by flying over the region the previous day. One can understand that the result of the intelligence collected through land reconnaissance (by Turkey, Iran, and Iraq),and the intelligence collected from US surveillance aircraft, were combined. In this respect, the cooperation of the countries that implemented the bombardment becomes obvious. Turkey implements its attack through US surveillance intelligence. The Turkish attack against PJAK's headquarters, which is fighting against Iran (an American "enemy"), raises several questions. When one puts Iran's cooperation with Turkey against the same target (PJAK), one can easily see an ironic cooperation between the US and Iran. This irony is very complex and needs a clear explanation.

Cooperation between the US and Iran? Bet the ranch on it. From the Guardian:

The US plans to establish a diplomatic presence in Tehran for the first time in 30 years as part of a remarkable turnaround in policy by President George Bush.

The Guardian has learned that an announcement will be made in the next month to establish a US interests section - a halfway house to setting up a full embassy. The move will see US diplomats stationed in the country.

The news of the shift by Bush who has pursued a hawkish approach to Iran throughout his tenure comes at a critical time in US-Iranian relations. After weeks that have seen tensions rise with Israel conducting war games and Tehran carrying out long-range missile tests, a thaw appears to be under way.

And, just now from the Guardian, an update:

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.

And, once more, from the Guardian:

For nearly 30 years, it has loomed like a ghost over the carcass of US-Iranian relations - a reminder of how Islamic revolutionaries rendered Washington impotent by holding 52 of its diplomats hostage.

To the US, its former embassy in Tehran conjures humiliating images of classified documents being desperately shredded and captured staff being paraded blindfold before angry jeering crowds after a takeover organised by pro-Khomeini militants.

For Iran's Islamic government, it is the "den of spies" from where the US supposedly tried to sabotage the 1979 revolution that toppled Washington's staunch ally, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Iran's last shah.

But yesterday the former embassy - now a museum run by revolutionary guards - was an unlikely focal point of hope after news that the Bush administration plans to establish the first US diplomatic presence in Iran since the 1979-81 siege of the embassy, which lasted 444 days.

Most Iranians passing the property in Talaghani Street were unaware of the Guardian's disclosure of the plans to open a US-staffed diplomatic interest section, a halfway step to full ties.

Conditioned by decades of Iranian government hostility and sabre-rattling over the country's nuclear programme, many shied away from commenting on an issue still seen as sensitive in a society where anti-Americanism is paramount. But others were prepared to cautiously welcome back the nation officially reviled since the revolution as "the Great Satan".

All of this fits together perfectly with news from a week and a half ago that described the tenfold increase in exports to Iran by the US since the Imperial Bush Administration took office. From the AP via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Nuclear weapons? No way. But there are plenty of items on Iran's shopping list that the United States has been more than happy to supply: cigarettes, brassieres, bull semen and more.

U.S. exports to Iran grew more than tenfold during President Bush's years in office even as he accused it of nuclear ambitions and sponsoring terrorists. Among the states, Georgia led the way, sending Iran $201 million in goods, including $154 million worth of cigarettes.

Other surprising shipments to Iran during the Bush administration include fur clothing, sculptures, perfume, musical instruments and maybe even rifles, according to seven years of U.S. government trade data.

The United States sent Iran $546 million in goods from 2001 through last year, government figures show. It exported roughly $146 million worth last year, compared with $8.3 million in 2001, Bush's first year in office.

The Guardian followed up on this one, too:

One of the Bush's administration's main instruments for putting pressure on Iran has been sanctions. Yesterday the White House announced fresh financial sanctions against Iranian officials and companies allegedly involved in its nuclear programme. But Tehran is awash with US goods mainly imported indirectly, usually through the United Arab Emirates.

Karim Sadjadpour, an Iranian specialist at the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said: "You can get everything from an iPod to a Chevrolet in Tehran. I think this is a good thing. The more the Iranian population is exposed to American culture, which includes American products, the better for Iranian progress."

The US treasury received at least 4,523 licence applications for Iran exports in the past seven years, of which it approved at least 2,821 and denied only about 178. US export records show $148,000 worth of weapons and other military gear were exported, including $106,635 in rifles and $8,760 in rifle parts and accessories shipped in 2004. At least $13,000 in equipment needed to launch jets from aircraft carriers were also exported.

Is anyone still so deluded as to believe that the US is interested in helping the cause of Kurdish freedom under Iranian occupation? If so, it's time for the seriously deluded to wake up and join forces with the only freedom movement that has the mullahs in its gun sights.


NEWSFLASH--As of this moment, it looks like Gülen has been cleared by the court to receive an I-140 visa by 1 August. News is at Hürriyet and I will try to work up a translation and post it as soon as possible.