By Yevgeny Primakov, Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
The U.S. has established contacts with Iranian authorities over the situation in Iraq. That is good. But at the same time, President Bush continues his relentless pressure on Iran, and not only with words: U.S. Navy strike groups have been amassed in the Persian Gulf, but such muscle-flexing seems to be ineffectual since Iran is gradually emerging from isolation. Ali Larijani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, met recently with EU High Representative on the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana. The two sides expressed their satisfaction with the "constructive" negotiations and agreed to continue them. In another important development, Turkey and Iran recently reached an agreement on energy supplies and joint construction of dams and hydro electric power stations.
