Worse, Bush must surely have angered Solana by claiming, just as Solana was delivering a package of incentives to Iranian officials, that he was "discouraged" that Iran had rejected it, this when Iranian officials were promising to seriously consider it and reply after a thorough study. The package relates to incentives for Iran to stop its nuclear program, which many believe is being directed towards producing weapons.

None of this makes sense, except as reflective of a built-in US ambivalence about Solana's mission and Washington's mixed feelings about the likely results of a breakthrough in the Iran nuclear standoff. Said otherwise, overt signs of US bad-faith diplomacy raise serious questions about whether or not Washington is really interested in resolving this crisis.