Iran biggest beneficiary of US-led Iraq war: Albright

Former US Secretary of State Madeliene Albright has said that Bush should respond to the latest letter from Tehran and that the Bush administration should open talks with the Iranians on the nuclear issue.

My stance has always been that you can't have diplomatic relations with a country that you refuse to speak to.

She welcomed the new Iraqi government but was still troubled by the situation in Iraq.

"The main problems that I see are the unintended consequences of this war, the biggest one frankly being at the moment is that the country that gained the most out of this war is Iran so I am very worried about it," she said Sunday.

Albright, who served under former president Bill Clinton between 1997 and 2001, highlighted the dangers of an internal conflict between Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority and the Sunni minority.

Asked what she thought about the risk of the country being divided into three parts -- the Kurdish north, the Sunni-dominated centre and the Shiite south -- Albright said this would be a dangerous development.

"It would have deep implications obviously on Turkey and the Kurdish issue. It would give additional power to Iran in the south with the Shia. Then the centre, which is primarily Sunni, is not homogeneous either, and one is unclear as to what role the Saudis might play or Jordanians," she said.

"I think it is better to keep it (Iraq) together, with some understanding that there needs to be local autonomy with some central control and distribution of oil revenues."

Of course, one was used to this all encompassing understanding of difficult issues under the Clinton administration. The world was seen in a more nuanced light than the harsh black and white, with us or against us spectrum currently employed by the Bush regime.

As Iraq collapses and Iran bristles, the US will feel the lack of such wisdom with Zebedee in the White House.

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