While Sen. Joseph Biden has been one of the
most vocal critics of Sen. Bill Frist’s plans to
employ the so-called “nuclear option” to end Democrats’ use of the
filibuster to block President Bush’s judicial nominees, he is less
concerned about Iran going “nuclear,” and has perhaps encouraged
Iran’s pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.
Recently, Biden sat down for an interview with Fox News’
Chris Wallace and stated that nuclear weapons in
the hands of the Iranians was unacceptable. Yet this is the same
who Biden has gone out of his way to reach out to Iran’s mullahs
and send them mixed American messages. Where the Bush
administration sees Iran as part of that “Axis of Evil,” Biden has
held private meetings with and raised money from mullahs or
sympathizers of mullahs who regularly crush peaceful democratic
protests in their land.
“In Iran, Biden is known as that theocracy’s number one
supporter. Every time they look to undercut the American position
on Iran, they turn to him,” says a U.S. State Department staffer.
“He’s made us look like fools on the international stage a couple
of times in the past few years, even when Clinton was in
office.”
Biden has spoken in the past about his support for a
nonaggression pact with Iran as means of discouraging that
country’s pursuit of nuclear weapons. A nonaggression pact was part
of the discussion between Biden and Iranian Foreign Minister
Kamal Kharrazi, during a 90-minute meeting the two
men had on January 23, 2004, at the World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland.
Biden had not sought approval from the Bush administration for
the meeting, despite the fact that the United States continues to
hold the policy that there are no official relations with Iran. The
fact that he used the meeting to criticize President Bush, his
administration and the approach of then Secretary of State
Colin Powell probably had something to do with
that. According to the State Department source, Kharrazi returned
to his delegation saying believing Biden was a man Iran could work
with to both get diplomatic relations up and running while also
building an nuclear arsenal.
Biden is believed to have held the meeting in Switzerland not
only for the attention it would give him, but also as favor to the
Iranian Muslim Association of North America. In 2002, one of the
board members of the group, whose members regularly travel to Iran,
and whose trips are monitored by U.S. intelligence, held a
fundraiser for Biden that raised more than $30,000 for Biden’s
Senate re-election campaign.
Sadegh Namazi-khah hosted the fundraiser, and
today is believed to be one of Biden’s fundraisers and outreach
volunteers for his leadership PAC and his presidential exploratory
campaign. But Namazi-khah and his group have their fingers in other
campaigns, as well. The Iranian Muslim Association of North America
is believed to have supporters out raising money for Sen.
Hillary Rodham Clinton in New York, and were
fundraisers for Sen. John Kerry in 2004.
