Iran to host summit with Iraq and Syria

Iran has invited the Iraqi and Syrian presidents to Tehran for a weekend summit with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to hash out ways to cooperate in curbing the runaway violence that has taken Iraq to the verge of civil war and threatens to spread through the region, four key lawmakers told The Associated Press on Monday.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has accepted the invitation and will fly to the Iranian capital Saturday, a close parliamentary associate said.  ...

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Allahpundit comments:

Khamenei is reportedly backing Rafsanjani, the crazy-but-not-that-crazy former president, for election to the Assembly of Experts next month to balance the influence of the really-really-crazies like Mesbah-Yazdi. If he’s that worried about the radicals, maybe he figures it’s time to dial things down a bit in Iraq. And if he can do it in a way that aggrandizes Iranian prestige, like initiating a summit, so much the better.

This figures into it too. If they’re going to make a power play in Beirut, they’ll want things relatively quiet for awhile on their other front.

It’s a slow news day so we end with a cartoon. Click the image to watch:

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Dark summit
Michelle Malkin

Associated Press reports:

Iran has invited the Iraqi and Syrian presidents to Tehran for a weekend summit with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to hash out ways to cooperate in curbing the runaway violence that has taken Iraq to the verge of civil war and threatens to spread through the region, four key lawmakers told The Associated Press on Monday.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has accepted the invitation and will fly to the Iranian capital Saturday, a close parliamentary associate said. ...