Ex-aide says Rice misled Congress on Iran

Controversy over a possible missed US opportunity for rapprochement with Iran grew on Feb. 14 as a former aide accused Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of misleading Congress on the issue. Flynt Leverett, who worked on the National Security Council when it was headed by Rice, said a proposal vetted by Tehran's most senior leaders was sent to the United States in May 2003 and was akin to the 1972 US opening to China. Leverett said he was confident it was seen by Rice and then-secretary of state Colin Powell, but "the administration rejected the overture." Rice's spokesman denied she misled Congress and reiterated that she did not see the proposal. Leverett said the 2003 overture "was a serious proposal" for a comprehensive agenda for US-Iranian rapprochement. "The Bush administration up to and including Secretary Rice is misleading Congress and the American public about the Iran proposal," he said. Testifying before Congress committee recently, Rice said: "I don't know what Flynt Leverett's talking about." She faulted him for not telling her. Leverett and others have represented the proposal as a missed opportunity that could have defused tensions with Iran. Leverett said Rice should apologize for calling his competence into question. He said he had left the National Security Council in March 2003 before the Iranian proposal was received. He returned to the CIA where he previously worked and soon after left government. Hence, he was not in a position to make this case directly to Rice, he said. Leverett said Powell, in a conversation about the Iranian proposal, told him he "couldn't sell it at the White House." This was evidence it had been discussed there, he said.