August 25, 2007 (LPAC)--According to Washington sources, Iranian government officials are deeply skeptical that the Bush Administration is at all serious about the ongoing ambassadorial talks over the future of Iraq.

A memorandum, summarizing the assessments of the Iranian government, is circulating among top policy making circles in Tehran, including within the Revolutionary Guard and the core group around President Ahmadinejad, according to the sources. The document, written immediately after President Bush issued a harsh criticism of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during his summit meeting with Canadian and Mexican leaders in Quebec last week, concluded that the Bush Administration is not serious about the talks between Iran, the U.S. and Iraq, and is merely conducting the talks as a ploy, while building a military alliance with Saudi Arabia and Egypt, targeted against Iran.

The memorandum cited the recently announced ten-year arms deals with the two Arab nations as evidence of the actual U.S. policy. The memorandum, according to the Washington sources who have been briefed on the contents of the document, concludes that the United States is not interested in upgrading the three-way diplomatic talks. If the U.S. is in any way serious, the document noted, the Americans will free the five Iranian officials who have been held captive in Iraq since January, as a good-faith gesture. One of the Washington sources who alerted Executive Intelligence Review to the existence of the policy memorandum, noted that the recent statements by Iranian Foreign Minister Motakki are consistent with the conclusions of the paper, which reflects a broad consensus among the various Iranian government factions.