Shadow Government

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Can’t we disinvite Iran to our Fourth of July parties?

By Christian Brose This is clearly a bad idea:  The United States said Monday its invitations were still standing for Iranian diplomats to attend July 4 celebrations at US embassies despite the crackdown on opposition supporters. President Barack Obama’s administration said earlier this month it would invite Iran to US embassy barbecues for the national ...

By Christian Brose

By Christian Brose

This is clearly a bad idea: 

The United States said Monday its invitations were still standing for Iranian diplomats to attend July 4 celebrations at US embassies despite the crackdown on opposition supporters.

President Barack Obama’s administration said earlier this month it would invite Iran to US embassy barbecues for the national holiday for the first time since the two nations severed relations following the 1979 Islamic revolution.

"There’s no thought to rescinding the invitations to Iranian diplomats," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters.

"We have made a strategic decision to engage on a number of fronts with Iran," Kelly said. "We tried many years of isolation, and we’re pursuing a different path now."

Really, State? Can’t we celebrate America’s birthday this year without members of a government that just a few days prior was killing its citizens in the streets?

H/T Spencer

Christian Brose is a senior editor at Foreign Policy. He served as chief speechwriter and policy advisor for U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from 2005 to 2008, and as speechwriter for former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell from 2004 to 2005.
Tag: Iran

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