By IPS Correspondents
WASHINGTON, Feb 15 2007 (IPS)

Amid rising tensions between their two countries, a group of U.S. religious leaders will leave Saturday for meetings with Iranian clergy and political leaders, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in Tehran next week.

Participants in the 13-member U.S. delegation, organised by the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and the Philadelphia-based American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), said their purpose will be to foster dialogue.

"We are making this trip hoping it will encourage both governments to step back from a course that will lead to conflict and suffering," said Mary Ellen McNish, general secretary of the AFSC.

Hostility between the two nations reached new heights recently as U.S. President George W. Bush this week renewed accusations that Iranian intelligence is supplying bombs to anti-U.S. militias in Iraq, and continued to build up its military forces in Iraq and the Gulf.

The weeklong visit will attempt to build on a New York meeting last September between U.S. religious leaders and Ahmadinejad, in which the harsh language between the two countries formed a central part of the discussion.

In response to a question regarding the slogan of certain Iranian protesters, "Death to America," the Iranian president said, "There was no cause for anger as they are not addressed to the American nation but to the aggressive, unjust, warmongering and bullying U.S. policies."

"As we did at the meeting in New York, we intend to continue to engage the president on his statements regarding the Holocaust," said McNish. "The Holocaust is a historical fact and one of history&#39s greatest human tragedies."

At the same time, however, the organisers expressed the hope that their meeting with Ahmadinejad would not dominate the media attention on their trip.

"There is a great risk that our goal to encourage improved relations between the people of Iran and the U.S. will be overshadowed by controversy surrounding President Ahmadinejad," said Ron Flaming, international programme director of the MCC.

Although the group&#39s schedule remains a secret for security reasons, the organisers expect to meet with former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, Muslim and Christian religious leaders, and female members of parliament, the Majlis.

In addition, the organisers believe that the U.S. delegation will be allowed to meet with Ayatollah Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi who has been characterised as a close spiritual adviser of President Ahmadinejad, and an opponent of Iran&#39s reformists. They will also meet with Iranian Evangelical Protestant leaders and the Archbishop of the Armenian Orthodox Church in Iran.

"We think it is important to connect with a range of people in Iran, and that&#39s why we included the various groupings of people we have," Flaming told IPS. "So while the president is an important piece, that&#39s not the only reason we&#39re going. We&#39re religious people going to establish bridges with Iranian people. We are not politicians."

Following the trip, the delegation will meet with members of the U.S. Congress to share its findings and discuss ways to reduce tensions between the two countries.

"We are hearing new concerns from members of Congress about President Bush&#39s escalating confrontation with Iran and President Ahmadinejad&#39s escalating confrontation with the U.S.," said Joe Volk, executive director of the Friends Committee on National Legislation, and a member of the delegation.

Despite growing calls in Congress for the Bush administration to engage Iran diplomatically, the White House has so far ruled out any negotiation until Tehran freezes its enrichment of uranium, a key part of its nuclear programme.

Iran&#39s refusal so far to do so, as well as Bush&#39s recent charges of Iran&#39s intervention in Iraq, has fueled tensions between the two countries. Iran insists that its enrichment programme is permitted under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The FCNL&#39s representative on the delegation stressed that the Quaker group opposes all efforts toward nuclear proliferation.

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