President Obama said during the campaign that he would have the most transparent administration in history. But apparently not when it comes to discussing Iran policy.
At Thurday’s National Jewish Leadership Advocacy Day at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, the appearance by top National Security Council official Dennis Ross and Assistant Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns was declared off-the-record, and reporters were told to leave the synagogue sanctuary for the duration of the administration’s presentation.
Organizers wanted the session to be open to reporters — indeed, they had sent out a press release inviting reporters to the event — but were told of the administration demand the previous evening.
A couple people who did hear the remarks of Ross and Burns said the two men stressed that the engagement process with Iran is "not open-ended" and that they had no illusions about the Iranians, with Ross at one point saying the process with Iran was "not about trust." One person noted that there was nothing particularly fresh or new, with much of what Ross and Burns said having been said by Obama in earlier speeches and press conferences. They apparently avoided saying whether the administration would support the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act, the legislation that House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Howard Berman (D-Calif.) earlier in the day said he was ready to forward next month.
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