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Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501987.html
Say No to Tehran's Gambit
(Washington Post) Charles Krauthammer - All of a sudden, revolutionary Iran has offered direct talks with the United States. It is not rare to see a regime such as Iran's - despotic, internally weak, feeling the world closing in - attempt so transparent a ploy to relieve pressure on itself. Concerted sanctions by America, Europe, and other economic powers could have devastating effects on Iran and its shaky clerical dictatorship, which is why the mullahs launched this recent initiative. The very fact that Iran is desperately trying to change the venue and shift the burden onto the U.S. shows how close the mullahs believe we are to achieving major international pressure on them. Pushing Washington to abandon the multilateral process and enter negotiations alone would short-circuit the process that, after years of dithering, is about to yield its first fruits: sanctions that Tehran fears.