U.S. Ready to Talk to Iran on Nukes, Terror
Friday, January 09, 2004
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration declared its willingness Friday to talk with Iran on that nation's nuclear program, human rights record and support for violent opponents of peace between Israel and the Arabs.
Iran's acceptance of U.S. assistance after an earthquake "has opened some opportunities for dialogue with Iran," Secretary of State Colin Powell said.
In fact, there already have been contacts in which these issues have been discussed, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
There is no plan to widen the contacts, but U.S. policy is "to engage Iran on specific issues of concern in an appropriate manner if and when the president determines he wants to do so," the spokesman said.
Despite denouncing Iran two years ago as being part of an "axis of evil," President Bush authorized relaxing restrictions on delivery of equipment and money to Iran to help relief efforts after the disastrous Dec. 26 earthquake there. Iran turned down the offer, as well as a visit by a high-level American delegation, but on Thursday Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said, "Iran is ready to negotiate with all countries, and America is no exception."
Speaking on Iranian state television, Kharrazi also said that if the United States were to adopt "a new approach to Iran and is ready to interact with us based on mutual respect and the principle of equality, the atmosphere will change remarkably."
The United States and Iran have had no diplomatic relations since Iranian revolutionaries took over the U.S. Embassy in 1979, took U.S. diplomats hostage and held them for 444 days.
Iran has not shut the door to receiving the U.S. delegation later, and it welcomed a team of 83 U.S. aid workers.
Powell, in an interview with Abu Dhabi TV, said, "There are still serious political differences between the United States and Iran." But, he said, Iran's acceptance of earthquake assistance "showed that in a crisis like this we could cooperate, and maybe that will lead to other areas of cooperation."
At a news conference Thursday, Powell said Iran's response was not a "political breakthrough, but it was, nevertheless, a human breakthrough."
And so, Powell said, "We will see what happens in the future with respect to our relationship with Iran."
One test of whether there may be a diplomatic thaw is whether the State Department allows Iran's U.N. ambassador to travel to Washington next week for meetings with members of Congress.
Within the administration there has been a protracted debate between two views of Iran. One is that reformers are gaining strength and would like to respond to the Iranian people's yearning for democracy. The other view is that fundamentalist religious leaders still have the last word and have no intention to ease up on their stern policies or to seek better relations with the United States.
Iran's support for anti-Israel militants remains a big obstacle to a U.S. dialogue. On Friday, Boucher would neither verify nor deny reports that Syrian planes returned home from missions to transport earthquake relief supplies to Iran with munitions for Hezbollah (search), an Iranian-supported Lebanese group that has been fighting a cross-border war with Israel.
"I don't think I am in a position to talk about information that foreign intelligence services may or may not have," Boucher said.
He said Iran's support for groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, through Syria, remains a problem.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,107953,00.html