Iran Wants Talks With U.S. But Refuses Nuclear Freeze

Iran today announced that it wants to accept a U.S. offer of talks on Tehran’s sensitive nuclear activities, but at the same time rejected the condition that it first suspend those efforts, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, May 31).

“We support dialogue in a fair and unbiased atmosphere, but we will not talk about our undeniable and legitimate rights, because this is the right of our people according to international laws and treaties,” said Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.

“There is no obstacle to negotiate with the United States on an equal footing, with respect and without preconditions, since what is important for us is to secure our nuclear rights,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described the offer as “kind of moment of truth for Iran.”

Mottaki complained that Rice’s statement opening the door for direct talks “did not have any new words in it.”

“They have repeated their old, old words. A new solution and a logical solution for the nuclear issue was not seen in the declaration,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chinese, European, Russian and U.S. foreign ministers gathered today in Vienna for further talks on potential incentives and sanctions for Iran.

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said there was “potentially a real opportunity” for an agreement with Iran. She said the international community was “united in seeing this as potentially a real opportunity for Iran and the international community to come to negotiated agreements and solutions.”

The U.S. offer was connected to efforts to persuade China and Russia to consider sanctions if Iran rejects negotiated efforts to end the nuclear standoff.

“This is an important, if not decisive step,” said French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, adding that it was “unity in the international community that will make a difference.”

“Today a real chance has appeared to achieve such a resolution. We call on Iran to respond to it constructively,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“We welcome the U.S. gesture to solve the issue through talks,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao announced.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso expressed “strong expectation that Iran will appropriately respond to this issue for its peaceful and diplomatic solution,” but added that Tokyo was “not at this point considering concrete economic sanctions against Iran.”

Israel also applauded the U.S. offer to engage with Iran, according to AFP (Farhad Pouladi, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, June 1).

One Iran expert said Tehran’s rejection of U.S. conditions for talks would likely be modified in the coming weeks, USA Today reported.

“I suspect they’ll negotiate over negotiations,” said Ray Takeyh of the Council on Foreign Relations.

The Bush administration said it would wait for an official response from Tehran.

“I hope this is not a real reaction from Iran,” said U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton. “I think it’s important that they take a very careful look at what Secretary Rice laid out today because it really is their last chance, in many respects” (Barbara Slavin, USA Today, May 31).

Bush administration officials said they do not expect Tehran to suspend all nuclear activities and characterized the U.S. offer as a test of whether Iran’s priority is on engagement with the West or on developing a nuclear weapons capability, the New York Times reported today.

Some officials involved in the standoff wondered whether failure is the point of the offer — to prove Iran’s unwillingness to compromise.

White House officials on both sides of the issue regarding engaging Iran saw value in “seeking if they are serious,” one senior aide said.

According to one official, President George W. Bush told Rice months ago that he needed “a third option” apart from allowing Iran to become a nuclear power or authorizing military strikes against the nation.

 Rice in May drafted a proposal that included a diplomatic schedule, according to the Times.

“[Vice President Dick] Cheney was dead set against it,” said one former official involved in many of the meetings. “At its heart, this was an argument about whether you could isolate the Iranians enough to force some kind of regime change.”

Three officials involved in the most recent internal debates said Cheney and others backed down.

“It came down to convincing Cheney and others that if we are going to confront Iran, we first have to check off the box” of seeking direct negotiations, said one former official.

Bush characterized the move as a strong U.S. diplomatic gesture.

“I thought it was important for the United States to take the lead, along with our partners, and that’s what you’re seeing. You’re seeing robust diplomacy,” he said.

Richard Haass, head of State Department policy planning during Bush’s first term, expressed skepticism that the new policy would yield fruit.

“It’s true that the conditions are significantly different than they were four or five years ago, but candidly they are not as favorable now for the United States,” he said (David Sanger, New York Times, June 1).

A senior administration official said China and Russia agree to a great extent on the West’s plans for a series of U.N. penalties to be imposed on Iran if it fails to comply with international demands, the Washington Post reported today.

Rice said the United States would not consider restoring diplomatic relations until Tehran agrees to renounce terrorism, among other conditions.

Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Wang Guangya said Beijing could support a tougher line with Iran if the West offers Tehran more “attractive carrots,” including security guarantees and a pledge to allow it to pursue a nuclear energy program, including a small-scale uranium enrichment (Fletcher/Kessler, Washington Post, June 1).

Meanwhile, Washington is pressing Tokyo to consider restrictions on financial transactions with Iran should diplomacy fail, Asia Pulse reported today.

Washington has asked Tokyo to consider imposing sanctions under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law, according to sources close to the matter. Modified in 2004 to allow for a crackdown on North Korea’s alleged illicit financial activities, the law enables Japan to unilaterally restrict foreign money transfers when necessary for maintaining the peace and security of the country, according to Asia Pulse.

The sanctions would have a substantial effect on Tokyo’s trade with Iran, which supplied 13.8 per cent of all crude oil to Japan last year, Asia Pulse reported (Asia Pulse, June 1).

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