Iranian Walks Out Of Dinner With Condi

Iran's foreign minister walked out of a dinner of diplomats where he was seated directly across from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on the pretext that the female violinist entertaining the gathering was dressed too revealingly.

"I don't know which woman he was afraid of, the woman in the red dress or the secretary of state," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Friday, regarding the actions of Iran's Manouchehr Mottaki.

Rice herself was questioned by reporters about the lack of a direct conversation with Mottaki, even though it appeared she was "chasing" him.

"Uh, well, you could ask him why he didn't make an effort," she replied. Then she laughed. "Look, I'm not given to chasing anyone."

So the face to face between Rice and Mottaki never happened, reports CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata. Instead, U.S. and Iranian delegations met at a lower, "expert" level, which while significant, is not a first.

"Our officials did, as they did in Baghdad, have an opportunity to exchange views about the substance of this meeting," Rice said.

So much of this Iraq summit has been about the U.S. and Iran, but with good reason, reports D'Agata. America blames Iran for violence in Iraq, Iran blames America, and the Iraqis have been urging both countries to put their differences aside and put Iraq first.

The dinner episode Thursday night amid a major regional conference on Iraq perfectly revealed how hard it was to bring together the top diplomats of the two rival nations.

In other developments:

Three roadside bomb attacks and combat in Anbar province killed a total of five more U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter, and wounded 11 American service members, the military said Friday.

Presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., announced they would introduce legislation requiring President Bush to seek a reauthorization from Congress to extend the military effort in Iraq.

Clashes erupted between rival Shiite militia groups in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood on Friday, when one militia launched an attack on the other's headquarters, police said.

Hundreds of angry Shiites poured onto the streets of two cities south of the Iraqi capital Friday to protest what they considered insults by Al-Jazeera television against Iraq's most revered Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. A talk show moderator questioned al-Sistani's leadership credentials.

U.S.-led forces raided Baghdad's main Shiite district on Friday and detained 16 alleged militants on suspicion of smuggling a powerful weapon from Iran into Iraq that can pierce armored vehicles, the military said. The military also announced the discovery in recent months of several weapons caches south of Baghdad that included four of the Iranian-made weapons, known as explosively formed penetrators, or EFP.

Meanwhile, Iraq's neighbors on Friday negotiated a declaration that would pledge support for Iraq's embattled Shiite-led government in return for more inclusion of Sunni Arabs in the political process.

A draft copy of the six-page declaration said the summit participants would agree to support Iraq's government as long as it ensured the "basic right of all Iraqi citizens to participate peacefully in the political process through the country's political system."

Also Friday at the conference, Mottaki delivered a tough speech, blaming the U.S. military presence for Iraq's turmoil and demanding the release of five Iranians detained by U.S. forces in Iraq.

"There should be no doubt that the continuation of and increase in terrorist acts in Iraq originates from the flawed approaches adopted by the foreign troops," Mottaki said. "The United States must accept the responsibilities arising from the occupation of Iraq."

Later, he emphasized his points to reporters.

"The polices of the occupation forces in Iraq are basically flawed, and the policies have failed, and we must try to correct these policies," Mottaki said.

On the conference's other main front, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Friday pushed Arab governments to stop foreign fighters from crossing their territory to join Iraq's insurgency, while trying to convince the Arabs that his Shiite-led government was serious about reconciling with Iraq's Sunnis.

Going into the summit, the Iraqi government had hoped for a breakthrough meeting between Rice and Mottaki. Instead, their only direct contact was a wary exchange of pleasantries over lunch Thursday, punctuated by a wry, somewhat mysterious comment by Mottaki.

Mottaki walked out of the diplomats' dinner on the pretext that the female violinist entertaining the gathering was dressed too revealingly.

The Iranian entered the lunch, greeting the gathered diplomats with the Arabic phrase, "As-salama aleikum," or "Peace be upon you," according to an Iraqi official who was present.

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[zootallures2]

So would I. She'd spoil my appetite if I didn't barf look at her and food together. That'd be like trying to eat dinner in a public toilet at Woodstock.

[toolmangler-2009]

Oh, it's definitelhy Freudian.
Posted by mudrose at 11:57 AM : May 04, 2007


????? Freud wore a slip?

sssshhhhheeeeesssshhhhhhh
and he called us 'crazy'

[cfin5]

radiob: That seems to be an unpopular subject "Alternative fuel". One of my first posts was the good news of the farmers finally going to make a buck growing more corn. Then two guys jumped my blank with smack about how the world was gonna starve, God ordained me to take all their money plus it was all my fault.

[cfin5]

tuckerndfw: I almost got it. Please comment about the buying oil with euro's instead of dollars. When I heard about that, my thinking bell tripped about half way.

[radiob-2009]

The amount of money spent waging this war itself would probaly provide the world with a alternative source of energy. If you want to help lower prices on fuel conserve energy and join the boycott on purchasing fuel from 5-5 till 5-8. Another boycott is planned later this month.

[j-whitman]

Dinner time

[j-whitman]

radio,,, I understand, but Iran isn't the same Iran as it was in the 50's, 60's, 70's or 80's... Hell, it's grown more like us even in the last 2 decades.
.. What did Reagan teach us Trust but verify ?,,, Now we do neither, we just keep making dangerous blind baseless acqusations & once again fail to understand the people or thier culture...

[tuckerndfw]

Not to overthrow the government, but boycot their oil!

Posted by ozilot at 07:26 PM : May 05, 2007

After the oil crisis in the mid-1970's, politicians promised to promote developing alternate energy sources.

Reagan cut funding for that effort, so it went nowhere.

I promoted the idea that gasoline should be taxed so that it was $5 a gallon (at the time, it was less than a dollar in most of the US). And the money be used to fund a "Manhattan Project" to develop alternate energy.

My fellow citizens nearly lynched me several times, so I gave up that idea.

Too bad we don't consider energy development worthy of the same kind of effort we give to developing increasingly destructive military hardware.

That misplaced priority will lead to the collapse of the US as we know it.

[j-whitman]

tuckerndfw,,,, Thanks alot

[tuckerndfw]

Anyone know how to get rid of terrorist birds in a backyard garden ???

Posted by j-whitman at 07:27 PM : May 05, 2007

Require them to take their shoes off before they enter the garden.