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U.S. Official to Attend Talks With Iran

Posted on: Wednesday, 16 July 2008, 09:00 CDT

President Bush has authorized the most significant U.S. diplomatic contact with Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, sending the State Department's third-ranking official to Geneva for a meeting this weekend on Iran's nuclear program, administration officials said Tuesday.

The decision appeared to bend, if not exactly break, the administration's insistence that it would not negotiate with Iran over its nuclear programs unless it first suspended uranium enrichment, as demanded by three resolutions of the U.N. Security Council.

Still, after months of accusations and counteraccusations from the United States and Iran, the meeting raised the prospect of an intensified diplomatic push to resolve concerns over Iranian nuclear activity, not unlike the lengthy talks that resulted in a deal last month with North Korea.

William Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs, will attend a meeting Saturday with the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, and Iran's nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, a senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement today.

At the meeting, Jalili is expected to present Iran's formal response to a package of economic and diplomatic incentives that Germany and the Security Council's five permanent members, Russia, China, France, Britain and the United States, presented Iran in June.

The package, which revived an earlier European offer to provide civilian nuclear assistance and increased trade, was met at first with official disdain in Iran but has since prompted conflicting signals among senior Iranian officials. That led the administration to conclude that there could be a better chance for a diplomatic resolution than some Iranian declarations and a battery of missile tests last week suggested.

Officials emphasized that Burns' participation was a one-time decision, that he would not meet one-on-one with Jalili and that he would reiterate the administration's demand that Iran suspend uranium enrichment.

the meeting

The meeting of representatives from the United States, the European Union and Iran raised the prospect of a diplomatic push to resolve concerns over Iranian nuclear activity.

Originally published by BY STEVEN LEE MYERS.

(c) 2008 Virginian - Pilot. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

Source: Virginian - Pilot

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