Proceed with caution
Kansas City Star: By the standards of the Iranian regime, it could almost be called "a charm offensive."
Iranian officials are said to be seeking direct talks with Washington. Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad managed to write President Bush an 18-page letter without once using the phrase "Great Satan." And the Iranians reportedly want to meet with top officials in France and Germany.
But it is hard to know just what to make of all this from the religious extremists who rule over the Iranian police state.
The preachy 18-page letter hardly seems designed to win many friends in the West. Instead of addressing international concerns about the Iranian nuclear program, for example, Ahmadinejad celebrates "the shattering and fall of the ideology and thoughts of the liberal democratic systems."
His pompous religious instructions and his 9/11 conspiracy theories presumably didn't go over well at the White House, either.
Europe is learning
European leaders have been trying to work out a deal with Iran for years, and where did it all lead? Last week Ahmadinejad was howling at them over their proposed incentives for Tehran to abandon its nuclear project: "Do you think you are dealing with a 4-year-old child ...?"
Tehran seeks to delay international action against its unacknowledged nuclear weapons program for as long as possible. Any Iranian statements must be carefully evaluated with that in mind.
But the Bush administration should resist the temptation to simply hurl insults back at Iranian leaders.
The best approach: Work with responsible American allies to ensure continued international pressure on Iran to abandon terrorism and its nuclear weapons program.