New Delhi: Audrey Hepburn tied the knot here. Nehru was here, with daughter Indira, too. Jimmy Carter was, as was Henry Kissinger, and ‘James Bond’ Sean Connery. About 2,000 feet above Lake Lucerne and almost twice that above sea level, The Burgenstock is one of the prettiest resorts in the world, reachable by a funicular railway that makes it a where-the-eagles-dare kind of place.
Intrigue lurking under the veneer of diplomacy may be par for the course; ugliness is not. But nobody told the latest visitors that. As delegations from the US and Iran got some facetime overseen by the kindly Qatari and Pakistani mediators of the West Asia peace-deal-in-progress, all sorts of attitudes were on display for the world to see.The Iranians came to table with a sense of being wronged, and secure in the belief that they have won the war in West Asia—so far, at least. Plain truth beat plainspeak as the delegation, led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf, flew in aboard Minab168—a flight commemorating the deaths of schoolgirls in one of the first US strikes of the war.
Iran’s victimhood had landed in neutral territory, the delegation also included the head of their central bank, deputy oil minister, and chairman of the National Iranian Oil Company.The Iranians launched the first strike, targeting the PR dividend from the meeting. The American team, led by made-to-order contrite Vice-President J.D. Vance wanted a picture with the Iranians before the talks began. No, said the Iranians to recording this momentous occasion when Vance and Araghchi would be in the same room.
