Pat Dollard | Young Americans

The Swamp:

There was a lot of surprise in Washington and beyond when the news broke that U.S. State Department official William Burns will be meeting in Teheran with Iranian officials over the weekend as part of an international group attempting to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear-weapons development efforts.

What raised so many eyebrows was what appeared to be seeming reversal in the Bush Administration’s position that it wouldn’t engage in direct talks unless the Iranians ceased and desisted in their nuclear enrichment efforts.

It’s no reversal, said the White House which insisted that just because a senior State Department official will be in a room with Iranian officials where a lot of talking will be taking place, that’s not the same as negotiations.

Here’s a lengthy exchange White House Press Secretary Dana Perino had with reporters this afternoon:

Q But you’re saying this isn’t negotiated? Is this negotiating with the Iranians?

MS. PERINO: Our principle remains the same, and the strategy and the goal remain the same, that they must halt the enrichment of uranium in order for there to be negotiations. And Secretary Rice has long said that that is her position, that if they were to suspend, that Secretary Rice would meet her counterpart anyplace, any time, and start to have negotiations, once it was verified by the IAEA that they had suspended. Nothing has changed in that regard.

Q Well, how can you say nothing has changed if you’re sending over Bill Burns to even sit there? I mean, that certainly gives the Iranians –

MS. PERINO: — different tactic. I said that the substance remains the same, but this is a new tactic. And we believe that — this follows up on another new tactic that we used with Iran this summer when we sent over the incentives package, which is that Secretary Rice signed the letter, along with the P5-plus-1. The next step is for the political directors, of which Under Secretary Burns is one, representing Secretary Rice, will join in attendance with his partners at this meeting to receive the response from the Iranians.

Q Why is this different from what Senator Obama has suggested, sitting down and negotiating?

MS. PERINO: Well, our condition remains the same that there will not be any negotiation unless they suspend their uranium enrichment.

Q And you just flat out say this is not negotiating, even though there’s someone sitting there in the room with the Iranians?

MS. PERINO: The underlying — absolutely, because he’s going there as a part of the international community showing their unity when it comes to the underlying fundamental principle, which is that there will not be any negotiations unless Iran suspends its nuclear — uranium enrichment.

Q Can you understand why people might look at what’s happening now and go back and think about what the President said in the Mideast about those who negotiate with terrorists or talk to terrorists –

MS. PERINO: As I just said –

Q — as an appeaser?

MS. PERINO: As I said, there is no negotiation here. We are going there. Under Secretary Burns will be there as a part of the international community showing our unison that we are going to provide two paths for the Iranians from which to choose — one, that they could accept the incentives package, and then if it’s verified that they have halted their uranium enrichment, then there will be negotiations. And that’s what I would seek to explain to the American people.

Q Just one last one — I won’t hog it here — but you don’t see that for the Iranian regime, this has got to be a pretty big deal, finally getting someone from the U.S. even sitting down there.

MS. PERINO: I think it shows the seriousness from which we’ve been trying to tell all of you for many months, which is that we want to solve this issue diplomatically. We seek to do so. We are going to continue to work with our international partners in unison, which is what we are going to do on Saturday. But the fundamental, underlying principle is that there will not be any negotiations unless Iran suspends its enrichment of uranium.

At the State Department, a reporter asked what would happen if an Iranian offiical tries to get Burns off to the side to talk about the real nitty gritty.

Q What happens if the — if Jalili tries to engage Ambassador Burns in some kind of a negotiation or drag — take him off to the side and have some kind of a private meeting? Is he under instruction that he cannot do so?

MR. MCCORMACK: There aren’t going to be any one-on-one meetings.

Look, I’m sure that Ambassador Burns will be polite, as we have been in other encounters with Iranian diplomats in a variety of different venues when we have encountered them.

And just as an aside, you know, the instructions to U.S. diplomats, if you do find yourself in a position of encountering an Iranian diplomat, is that you are to be polite but not engage in any substantive discussion. And that, I assume, will be Bill’s instructions here.

And I’m sure — you know, look, Bill Burns is an — one of our most experienced diplomats. And I’m sure that should the event occur that you have described, where, you know, Mr. Jalili tries to engage him, I think Bill will make a strong point of highlighting to him: Mr. Jalili, if you want negotiations, you know what to do. You can advise your government to suspend its enrichment-related activities. Then you’ll see the secretary of State at the table, along with other ministers from the P-5 plus one.

But you know, again, Bill is an experienced diplomat, and I’m confident he’ll be able to handle (himself) –

So this is basically just a get together more, for the nations that have been leading the effort to pressure Iran to show a united front, nothing more, according to Bush Administration officials.