Both presidential candidates in the US have joined President Bush in claiming Iran is a "grave threat".
Both presidential candidates in the US have joined President Bush in claiming Iran is a "grave threat".
Yet, as the Iranian American Professor Trita Parsi has shown, the Iranian government offered the US and Israeli governments a comprehensive peace deal in 2003, which included full IAEA access to all nuclear programme sites in Iran and an end to Iranian arming of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah - plus an offer to put pressure on those groups to end terrorist attacks, in return for concessions from Israel and the US.
Many in all three governments wanted to go ahead with the peace deal - but the warmongers among the Bush administration and the Israeli government refused to negotiate. They believed they could impose any deal they wanted on Iran by force without offering anything in return.
The Iranian government, unpleasant as it is, is not the one that's pushing for war at all costs and refusing to negotiate.
Duncan McFarlane, Carluke.
