Washington's man in Iran

In the LATimes, here

"...During trips to Washington, he was greeted like a celebrity. He told officials that the Iranian system's contradictions, its irresponsible use of oil money and its lack of accountability would eventually lead to its collapse. In a November 2006 sit-down in the White House, Elliot Abrams, an aide to then Vice President Dick Cheney, asked whether war would hasten that collapse.

"If you use military force, you strengthen the regime and make it last longer," Welti told him.

Abrams asked him when he thought the system would collapse on its own.

"I'm sure it's beyond your political time frame," Welti told him.

Welti has a simple solution for Washington's seeming perplexity about Iran: Why, he asked, don't the Americans follow through on an idea that news reports said was floated by then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice late last year of placing American diplomats in Tehran?

"They don't lose anything, and they get a firsthand insight into the regime," he said..."