The Bush administration is resisting pressure from its European allies to engage Iran directly over its alleged nuclear weapons programme rather than leave negotiations to the EU3 of France, Germany and the UK.

Iran's sending someone to the U.S. to talk about something or the other is great. But it's sort of like North Korea demanding to talk to the U.S.: Everybody complains that the U.S. sticks her nose in where it's not wanted, but then everybody complains when the U.S. tries do hand a problem off to somebody else.

Why doesn't the EU, or the EU-3, or the Arab League negotiate an agreement with Iran?