Were the Iranians compensated by the Americans after they shot down a passenger plane in 1988 killing 290 passengers?
Interested to know.

Kris Keshav, Richmond, Surrey, U. K.

Will Bush will now start to argue that negotiating with the Iranians is a sign of his strength and wisdom? How could this whole miserable adventure have been different had he had this wisdom before he started it all.

Toby, Munich, Germany

I would have to congratulate the US government for getting off its high horse and recognising that sometimes one has to talk to one's enemies in this world. I am sure that if US has won in Iraq, then it would never have bent before Iran. Maybe Iran would have been the next US target in this crazy war on terror. I suppose God works in myterious ways. Something good came out from this illegal invasion of Iraq.

Z Hussain, Rochdale, UK

first of all let me tell you that if you read the recent iranian history you will know that the mullas welcomed the us led coup against dr mosadeq,s legal goverment as the mullas know very well that they can not breathe in a democracy as they have nothing to offer but to only moan and show grief as how bad things are.and hence have the pepole on their side.in fact the mullas co operated with the british in order to over throw mosadeq..they were so much against dr mosadeq that they have not named one single street in iran after this great man but now are crying foul?
the us will do well to talk to iranian opposition.nothing will come out of any talks with the mullas.as nothing has come out of four years of negotiation over the mullas nuclear program.

dedesertman, london, england

Re:Gaza close to civil war as Hamas threatens suicide attacks

Your coverage shows extensive damage of Palestinian territory by Israeli airstrike? Why is your coverage one sided and shows nothing of the Palestinian rocket launches and damage to the Israeli side that preceeded the Israeli attacks?

Steve, Phoenix, United Staes/Arizona

The U.S. has no other choice than to negotiate with Iran, as Iran has all of their weapons and rockets targeting Baghdad in Iraq ready to annihilate most of our 130,000 troops, where our troops are located in a ring of fire. Now with our U.S. battle ships off the coast of Iran, one false move by either side, will mean another war and all of the Young Lions will also go into suicidal action. Where will the U.S. immediately get the troops necessary to fight another war and protect our homeland at the same time. As a Vietnam combat veteran myself, mark my words, our country is unprepared and in imminent danger. We better start the draft now, as we are already in the danger zone of an expanded war.

Rich, Ft. Myers, USA Fl.

well said ak

KK, skokie, IL,

You forgot the first "bad blood". That is the CIA-directed coup d'etat in 1953 that removed the democratically elected government of Dr. Mosadegh, in favor of the Shah.
And all because Dr. Mosadegh had legally nationalized the Iranian oil, practically cutting the hands of British Petroleum. Well, as everyone (almost) knows Darcy (sp?) discovered oil in Iran in 1908, and BP Had taken it all for free for almost 50 years.

Imagine if that Coup had not taken place and the CIA had respected the rights of the Iranians in their own country. Would the U.S. and Iran have been the best partners now? After all, of all people who live in the Middle East, The Iranians (and Israelis) have the most "natural" Western inclination.

ak, Baton Rouge, LA

"Great Satan sits down with the Axis of Evil" eh?

I love the "plague on both your houses" headline! :)

Craig Ransom, Laurel, Maryland, USA

what a headline, but i guess the great satan is the way all you liberals look at the us

dennis caywood, merced,

prosperity covers a lot of sins

dudley mchugh, pertie, qld

It's about time these "diplomats" began living up to their names and started performing their functions. These negotiations have been too long in the waiting and the time for them is far overdue. Now let's hope that these people (all of them and not just the ones we think we want to be right) actually perform their duties so that our troops can come home and this ridiculous war can end.
"One step at a time" and this is the first step. Now, let's urge the US, Irani and Iraqi governments to enact the second step. It is time the mess in the Middle East began cleaning up.
Next step, Syria. Then we can work on the the Israeli/Palestinian problem and the Afgan problem.
One world, one people. It is time that we stopped killing our brothers because they view the world differently than we do. It is time we began trying to understand our brothers. This is how the Cold War ended, negotiation.

PJ, Belvidere, NJ