Accusations, Denials and a Weird Form of Diplomacy ; LEADING ARTICLE ++ US-IRAN RELATIONS

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The best that can be said of the latest exchanges between the United States and Iran is that a dialogue is being conducted - albeit of a bizarre variety. On Sunday, US officials presented what they said was proof that Iran was directly involved in supplying weapons to Shia militias in Iraq. Yesterday, the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, responded in an interview with the US television channel ABC. He categorically denied the charges, accused the US of form in the fabrication of evidence, and said - by the by - that Tehran was prepared to talk.

These are perilous days in US-Iranian relations, as they are for Iraq and the region as a whole, with many different …