GOP Heavy Hitters Pressuring White House to Talk With Iran

Republican Heavyweights have publicly urged the administration to leave the current path of escalation and join European allies in direct talks with Tehran

Los Angeles Times

Amid concern that the U.S. is drifting toward eventual confrontation with Iran, a growing number of influential statesmen, Republican senators and foreign policy experts are stepping up pressure on the Bush administration to consider doing what no U.S. administration has done in 27 years: talk directly with Iran.

"I think the administration is gradually and with some reluctance moving in the right direction," said a central figure in the Republican foreign policy establishment who is trying to shift the administration's stance."But I don't think they are taking initiatives now. I think they are being dragged."

The administration's stance toward Iran, refusing direct talks while allowing other nations to negotiate, has paid few dividends and could add to the unpopularity of future sanctions or military action, the foreign policy expert said. But the administration may be forced to change as a result of "pressure from Europeans, from the Russians, and the general sense that they are just on a wicket they can't sustain there," the expert said.

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John McCain in 2006:

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flash forward: 5.15.2008