Cheney vs. Bush Over Iran

The Memorial Day talks between the United States and Iran received lots of media attention. As they should given 27 years have passed since officials from the two countries formally sat down across a table from one another.

But there was also a battle taking place behind the scenes over U.S. relations with Iran. Washington insiders say Vice President Dick Cheney is so opposed to the current efforts to engage Iran that he is actively undermining the efforts of the president and secretary of state. In his Washington Note blog, Steve Clemons says one of his sources used the phrase "potentially criminal insubordination" to describe the vice president's actions.

Since published by Clemons, the story has been reprinted and advanced by Joe Klein of Time Magazine, the editors of Foreign Policy magazine, and Chris Preble of the Cato Institute.

Martin Walker, writing for UPI, points out how this domestic controversy impacts the international talks. He says, "...the Iranians see a... split in the Bush administration, between the moderates at the State Department and in Congress, and the hard-liners around Vice-President Cheney and in the Pentagon. The Iranians in turn seek to exploit those differences...."

Update 6/4/2007: Gary Sick, my favorite American analyst of Iran, just offered a great commentary on why the U.S. and Iran are talking and where this all may be leading.