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Iran Asks European Nations To Resume Nuclear Talks Associated Press November 6, 2005 11:49 a.m. TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's top nuclear negotiator Sunday called for a renewal of nuclear negotiations with France, the United Kingdom and Germany, the state-run news agency reported. In letters to the foreign ministers of the European nations, Ali Larijani asked for "constructive and logical negotiations in the framework of respective conventions and regulations of International Atomic Energy Agency." The Islamic Republic News Agency reported that the letters had been delivered to the nations' ambassadors in Tehran. Two years of on-and-off negotiations over ending disputed portions...

But Washington has far too optimistic a view of China's intentions. Unlike the United States, say Chinese officials and scholars, China appears unwilling to pressure North Korea on human rights and the North's nuclear program--and even appears willing to live with a nuclear North, a view few American officials share. U.S. pressure is unlikely to change China's mind. "The U.S. doesn't have any additional leverage over China on North Korea," says Han Park, a Korea specialist at the University of Georgia who has made many trips to Beijing and Pyongyang. Worse, by continuing to serve as an intermediary while doing...

Iran says it has reached a preliminary agreement with Britain, France and Germany to address concerns about its nuclear programme. Details of the accord reached in Paris have not been revealed but an Iranian negotiator said fundamental principals had been agreed. Europe has called on Iran to suspend all its uranium enrichment activities. Iran denies it has a secret weapons programme, but is threatened with UN action unless it stops its activities.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said that it was currently impossible for the Islamic Republic to engage in any dialogue with the United States.When asked if it was possible for Tehran and Washington to resume discreet but direct diplomatic contacts, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said no.'The US must first change the way it speaks about Iran, he said.'The US has to accept that it is a member of the international community just like everybody else and is not superior..if this mentality changes, the Americans can escape their growing isolation.'Tehran and Washington had cut diplomatic ties after the 1979 Islamic revolution,...