ElBaradei says they're is six months out from the bomb. The mullahs have repeatedly declared - most recently this morning - that not hell, high-water, nor economic pressure will stop them. So naturally the State Department has chosen now to start giving away diplomatic carrots:

With the U.S. and Iran barely on speaking terms for nearly three decades, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dropped an eyepopping hint Monday that the U.S. is considering a visa office in Iran to draw more Iranian visitors to the United States. The opening of a U.S. interests section, similar to the one the United States maintains in Cuba, would be the first U.S. diplomatic presence in the Iranian capital since Iran freed 52 American hostages in 1981 after 444 days at the former U.S. Embassy... [A] U.S. diplomatic mission in Iran to issue visas? Miss Rice declined to comment on what she called "internal deliberations" at Foggy Bottom... How could the U.S. reconcile the practical benefits of opening an office in Tehran with its policy of trying to isolate the hard-line Islamist regime? Current and former officials said the idea of opening an "interests section" in Tehran - a mission much smaller and lower-profile than an embassy - was first discussed a couple of years ago as an incentive for Iran to stop enriching uranium,... "It didn't get beyond how you do that without implying greater legitimacy for the regime while actually trying to do the opposite," the official said.

We've got some real captains of statecraft navigating the waters over there. Each a more exacting and calculating expert than the next. Not that it matters - it's now or six months from now away.

References:
* Video: ElBaradei says Iran could make a bomb in six months to a year [Hot Air]
* Iran says new EU sanctions on Tehran won't affect its nuclear activities [IHT]
* U.S. considers Tehran office to issue visas [Wash Times]

Previously:
* State Department Discovers Iran Supports Terrorism
* State Department Spouts Utter Nonsense, Undermines Israeli Self-Defense
* State Department And Pentagon Plotting Insubordination, Pretty Much Lying To Prevent Action Against Iran