Why Are We Encouraging Doing Business With Iran ?

Yesterday, Fox News reported that today a delegation from Iran will be traveling to the U.S. to participate in the Futurallia International Business Development Forum.

The article reports:

"Mohammad-Reza Sabzalipour, director of the Iranian World Trade Center, who announced this news to a group of reporters, said: "A sixteen-person delegation comprised of private sector Iranians has been invited by the U.S. to attend this three-day conference in Kansas City. Eight hundred trade delegations from thirty countries are expected to participate. This Forum can set the stage and provide the necessary groundwork for the development of international trade and business relations for Iran's private sector.""

The first thing to keep in mind here is that the private sector of Iran is heavily infiltrated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the elite military troops of Iran. 

The U. S. currently has trade sanctions on Iran, but in spite of that the Obama administration has allowed the State Department to issue visas to this group and to host the delegation in the United States. 

The article further reports:

"This is in addition to the recent secret meeting in Dubai between officials from the Obama administration and the Iranian delegates sent by President Ahmadinejad! According to reports from Iran, in late January/early February, a group calling itself "a trade association" -- all of its members belong to security forces close to Ahmadinejad -- traveled to Dubai where they held clandestine meetings with two American officials with political and military connections."

This is ridiculous.  Either we support economic sanctions or we don't.  If we don't, why not just say so and take whatever flak ensues?  If we honestly believe we can impact Iran's nuclear program with sanctions, then we need to enforce the sanctions--not invite in trade delegations.

As I said before, there are very close ties between the business community in Iran and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.  It is very foolish to let this delegation into the United States.  Do we honestly believe that if we sent a business delegation to Iran, there would not be CIA operatives in it?  Why don't we understand that the street goes both ways?