Hillary Clinton heralded a promising new start to US co-operation with Iran yesterday despite a stinging attack by Tehran on President Obama’s Afghan troop surge.The US Secretary of State found that the hand extended to Iran by President Obama was met with scorn for the extra US soldiers heading to Afghanistan but also with a pledge to co-operate against the scourge of drugs.
In a stark departure from the approach of the Bush Administration, Richard Holbrooke, the US envoy to Afghanistan, held a “cordial” meeting with the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister in the margins of a UN summit in The Hague.
The 72-nation meeting on the future of Afghanistan was the latest staging post for the Obama Administration’s efforts to coax Iran back into the international community.
