Iran wanted to talk in ‘03, White House said no
and then Condi lied about it:
Powell tried to push Iran talks in 2003 and was rebuffed, former official says
Former Bush National Security Council official also says Rice likely lied about not seeing document
Former Bush National Security Council official Flynt Leverett, speaking on Wednesday at a forum held by the New America Foundation, told a crowd in a Senate office building that in 2003 then-Secretary of State Colin Powell received a “grand bargain” offer from Iran and was rebuffed by the White House.
“I know as a fact from multiple sources this went all the way up to Secretary Powell,” Leverett said, citing multiple sources at the State Department and the NSC. “In [Secretary Powell’s] words, he ‘couldn’t sell it at the White House.’”
Leverett said the letter was also delivered to the National Security Council. Rice told Congress last week that she’d never seen it.</em>
