# The Iranian interest section > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "The Iranian interest section," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-iranian-interest-section/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *How John Kiriakou obtained a visa to travel to Iran in the absence of diplomatic relations — through an Iranian interest section housed in the Pakistani embassy in Washington — and the argument he draws from it, that withholding recognition only makes diplomats' work harder.* - **The problem:** The United States and Iran have no diplomatic relations - **The workaround:** An Iranian interest section inside the Pakistani embassy in Washington - **Who used it:** Kiriakou's fixer, on his behalf, to obtain his visa - **Kiriakou's general position:** Diplomatic recognition should not be treated as a reward - **His preferred rule:** Relations with every country that wants them - **The consequence he identifies:** The lack of relations "just makes it harder for them to do their jobs" **The Iranian interest section** is the diplomatic arrangement through which John Kiriakou says he obtained permission to travel to Iran, cited on the DeProgram programme in September 2025 as evidence for a general argument about recognition.[1] ## The principle The discussion had turned to Russia's recognition of the Taliban government and whether the United States should follow. Kiriakou's position was that the question is badly framed. *"I don't think diplomatic recognition ... should be like one of those things that is a reward or something."*[2] The rule he proposes is universal: relations *"with every other country. Period."* His reasoning is functional rather than moral — *"let the diplomats do what they're paid to do, to carry out diplomacy. We should have relations with everybody. We really should. Everybody that wants relations with us."*[2] ## The evidence His argument is that the contacts happen regardless, and only become more awkward. *"The truth is, when we need to talk to people, we end up talking to them anyway."*[1] The illustration is his own travel. *"Right when I needed a visa to go to Iran — we don't have diplomatic relations, but Iran had an interest section in the Pakistani embassy in Washington, and that's what my fixer went through to get it."*[1] An interest section is the standard device by which a state without relations maintains a consular presence inside a third country's mission; Kiriakou treats it as proof that the severance is nominal. ## The conclusion *"So in other words, the US has to talk to Iran sometimes. They have to. But the lack of diplomatic relations just makes it harder for them to do their jobs."*[1] ## Applied to Afghanistan Kiriakou extends the same reasoning to a country the United States left entirely. He says Washington *"should have recognised the Taliban immediately"*, and that at a minimum *"we should have an embassy open there, even if it's just two or three people. And we should be carrying out diplomacy constantly."*[3][4] He grounds the practical case in Americans still in the country after the withdrawal, who in the absence of a mission have no consular representation at all.[4] ## See also - [The Pezeshkian invitation](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-pezeshkian-invitation) - [2026 Iran war](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/2026-iran-war) - [The Taliban](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/taliban) - [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) ## Sources 1. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-04), at 1:07:45. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IPfeItwnb4&t=4065s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-04-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 2. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-04), at 1:07:15. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IPfeItwnb4&t=4035s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-04-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 3. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-04), at 1:06:13. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IPfeItwnb4&t=3973s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-04-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 4. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-04), at 1:10:22. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IPfeItwnb4&t=4222s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-04-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-iranian-interest-section/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt