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Rice 'misled' congress on Iran
14/02/2007 23:30 - (SA)
Washington - Secretary of state
Condoleeza Rice misled the US congress when she said last
week that she had not seen a 2003 Iranian proposal for talks
with the United States, a former senior government official
said on Wednesday.
Flynt Leverett - who worked on the national security council
when it was headed by Rice - likened the proposal to the '72
US opening to China. He said he was confident it was seen by
Rice and then-secretary of state Colin Powell, but "the
administration rejected the overture". Speaking at a conference on Capitol Hill, Leverett said
"this was a serious proposal, a serious effort" by Iran to lay
out a comprehensive agenda for US-Iranian rapprochement.
"The Bush administration up to and including secretary Rice
is misleading congress and the American public about the Iran
proposal," he said.
Testifying before the house of representatives foreign
affairs committee last week, Rice told lawmakers who asked
about Leverett's previous public comments and writings on the
Iranian proposal: "I don't know what Flynt Leverett's talking
about."
She faulted him for not telling her "We have a proposal
from Iran and we really ought to take it."
At the state department, spokesperson Sean McCormack said:
"What she said is she has no recollection of having seen it.
" She has said that repeatedly." He said the accusation that she
had misled congress was "just absolutely 100% false".
- Reuters
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