State Department officials credit Tehran with reining in Shiite militias, say move could be 'good beginning' for next set of talks

13 members of U.S. Congress call for direct talks with Iran

Representative Peter Welch is urging President Bush to engage in “direct, unconditional and comprehensive” diplomacy with Iran.

The freshman Vermont Democrat cites a recent National Intelligence Estimate, which determined that Iran has no nuclear weapons program. He also says Iran had no weapons shipments to Iraq.

“The release of the National Intelligence Estimate… clearly demonstrates that our nation’s differences with Iran can and must be resolved diplomatically,” Welch wrote in a letter to the president this week.

A report issued by UN nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei on November 8 confirmed the transparency of Iran’s nuclear program and said it found Tehran to be generally truthful about key aspects of its nuclear history.

He was joined by Representative Peter DeFazio. So far, 13 House members have signed onto the letter.

“We urge you to build upon the progress made by our own intelligence agencies’ positive assessment of Iran’s responsiveness to diplomacy,” he adds. “It is time to begin direct, unconditional, and comprehensive negotiations with Iran.”

Welch spokesman Andrew Savage said the letter stems from the congressman’s “profound distrust with the president, in particular on the issue of Iran and foreign diplomacy.”

[link to www.tehrantimes.com]

Search in Iran for Ex-FBI Agent Fails
Wife of American Visits Island Where He Was Last Seen


The wife of a missing former FBI agent said Saturday she has been unable to find out what happened to her husband despite visiting the Iranian island where he was last seen.

The Iranian government reiterated that it had no information about Robert A. Levinson's whereabouts.

"Our trip is almost over and the miracle we were hoping for has not happened. We still don't have answers about what happened to Bob," Christine Levinson said at a news conference in Tehran following her visit to Kish Island, a resort off the southern coast of Iran.

Her 59-year-old husband was last seen March 8 on Kish, where he had gone to seek information on cigarette smuggling for a client of his security firm.

[link to www.washingtonpost.com]

Ambassador skeptical of Iran's plan for Iraq

The U.S. ambassador expressed wariness Sunday about Iranian intentions in Iraq, saying that even if Iran-backed militias have decreased activities here, he was not yet convinced the Islamic regime was committed to helping stabilize Iraq.

U.S. military officials have cited the recent drop in roadside bombs and mortar and rocket attacks as a sign that Iran, which Washington accuses of fomenting unrest in Iraq, is altering its behavior. Most have said they remain in "wait-and-see" mode to determine if the change represents a firm policy change.

Ambassador Ryan Crocker said he wasn't swayed yet. "Is it a conscious policy decision on the part of the Iranian government to use all its influence to bring these things down?" he said, referring to violent incidents. "Or does it involve the Iranians saying, 'Let's throttle it back, get everyone comfortable, and then put the pedal down again?' "

[link to www.latimes.com]