'Hotline to Iran’ Aims to Head Off War

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‘Hotline to Iran’ Aims to Head Off War
by Alison Raphael

WASHINGTON - Members of Congress joined religious and civil society leaders today in an urgent call to stop the “drumbeat of war” with Iran and open up diplomatic talks to resolve growing tensions between Washington and Tehran.

“We hear the same people who supported a disastrous war in Iraq now steadily beating the drum for war with Iran,” said Congresswoman Barbara Lee, adding: “We have been down this road before.”

Lee joined Reps. Ron Paul and Sheila Jackson Lee in a “Time to Talk to Iran” event on Capitol Hill, organized by the Campaign for a New American Policy on Iran (CNAPI), along with groups such as Physicians for Social Responsibility and the American Friends Service Committee.

The event featured 1960s-style red “hotline” telephones that enabled people to speak with ordinary citizens in Iran, including Washington, D.C. tourists attracted by the outdoors event.

Outside Washington, Americans were mobilized to call their Congressional representative to urge direct dialogue between the two countries.

A bill sponsored by Lee, the “Iran Diplomatic Accountability Act of 2008,” is gathering momentum in Congress. The Act calls for the appointment of a high-level envoy to conduct direct, unconditional, bilateral negotiations with Iran.

The Capitol Hill event reflects the sharp divisions within the United States over how to deal with the regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, particularly in regard to Iran’s nuclear program and activities in Iraq and the Middle East.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that Iran’s nuclear program is aimed at producing nuclear energy, not nuclear weapons, but the Bush administration remains unconvinced. Washington demands that Iran suspend its nuclear enrichment program before talks can begin.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/06/11/9547/

"...but the Bush administration remains unconvinced."

Uh-huh...sure they are.

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