IRANIAN MOVES - AT 3:26 P.M. ET: 

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- Iran has accepted an invitation to a conference on Afghanistan next week that also will be attended by the U.S., the conference's Dutch host said Wednesday.

The invitation to Iran, which was first announced by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, was seen as part of Washington's policy toward greater engagement with the Islamic republic.

COMMENT:  This will be spun as a victory for "engagement," but it is nothing of the kind.  It simply magnifies Iranian "respectability," with us getting nothing in return - exactly the same experience the Europeans have had in talking with Iran.

March 25, 2009