Drums of Iran War Dying Down?

The drums of war in Iran seemed to have died down a bit in the last few days. Interesting. The visit of Chinese president Hu to the United States (he may be bringing a threat to sink the U.S. economy if the U.S. bombs Iran), the shocking rise of gold and oil and drop in the dollar (a warning from other central banks?), the near mutiny of top military brass may have slowed down the neocons plans. Now, Wayne Madsen reports that a secret delegation from Iran visited Washington:

April 20, 2006 -- According to U.S. government insiders and foreign intelligence sources, a high-level Iranian government delegation arrived in the United States last week for negotiations on Iran's nuclear program and other matters of mutual interest. The delegation included Iranian nuclear program officials and leaders close to President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and Supreme Ayatollah Ali Khamanei. The presence of the Iranian delegation was confirmed by the presence in Washington of Mohammed Nahavandian, a senior aide to chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani. The sighting of Nahavandian in Washington was a clear embarrassment for the Bush administration since the Iranian visit has been held in great secrecy amid saber rattling over the Iranian nuclear issue from both the neo-cons in the Bush administration and the hardliners in the Iranian government. Informed sources speculate that the U.S.-Iranian talks may have taken place at the Aspen Institute's Wye River Conference Center on Maryland's Eastern Shore, where access is limited and security is tight. Since Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld maintain residences near the Wye River Center, there is a continued federal security presence in the area. Nahavandian likely entered the United States as secretly as his colleagues until his presence in Washington was noticed. Former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani tipped his hand when he revealed that Nahavandian, who is the president of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce and an Iranian international policy think tank, was in the United States to attend a "conference." On April 12, a large motorcade consisting of federal law enforcement vehicles and a bus with blacked out windows was seen traveling at a high rate of speed on US Route 50 towards the Wye River Center from Washington DC. The Wye River center was the site of October 1998 talks between Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Chairman Yassir Arafat.

It could also be that all the war talk was done just to raise oil prices. See Xymphora on this and on the related issue that the Neocons/Israelis and the Iranians go way back (Iran-Contra) and have a lot of common interests, believe it or not.