The Obama administration is prepared to pursue direct dialogue with Iran aimed at addressing that nation's disputed nuclear activities, the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 26).
(Jan. 27) -
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice addresses reporters yesterday (Don Emmert/Getty Images).
Ambassador Susan Rice said, though, that such talks would not distract from U.N. Security Council efforts to persuade Iran to freeze its uranium enrichment program. Tehran has long refused to suspend the effort, contending it would only produce nuclear power plant fuel and not a key nuclear-weapon ingredient.
"The dialogue and diplomacy must go hand in hand with a very firm message from the United States and the international community that Iran needs to meet its obligations as defined by the [U.N.] Security Council. And its continuing refusal to do so will only cause pressure to increase," Rice said, adding that Washington is still "deeply concerned about the threat that Iran's nuclear program poses to the region, indeed to the United States and the entire international community."
"We look forward to engaging in vigorous diplomacy that includes direct diplomacy with Iran, as well as continued collaboration and partnership" on the matter with the four other permanent U.N. Security Council member nations and Germany, she said. "We will look at what is necessary and appropriate with respect to maintaining pressure toward that goal of ending Iran's nuclear program."
U.S. and Iranian delegates have occasionally crossed paths at multilateral meetings and narrowly focused policy discussions, but the countries are not known to have conducted extensive bilateral negotiations since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution (John Heilprin, Associated Press/Google News, Jan. 26).
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said "there are no specific initiatives" to pursue diplomacy with Iran, the Washington Post reported.
"What Ambassador Rice outlined today was simply to restate the position that I think many of you heard the president outline throughout the campaign for the past two years: that this administration is going to use all elements of our national power to address the concerns that we have with Iran," he said.
A European source welcomed Rice's stated commitment to addressing the nuclear dispute in cooperation with other countries. Some European diplomats were worried that U.S. overtures toward direct diplomacy would eclipse ongoing multilateral efforts to engage Iran (Colum Lynch, Washington Post, Jan. 27).
President Barack Obama yesterday said he would establish an overarching Iran policy over the next several months, Agence France-Presse reported.
"As I said in my inauguration speech, if countries like Iran are willing to unclench their fist, they will find an extended hand from us," Obama told al-Arabiya television. "It is very important for us to make sure that we are using all the tools of U.S. power, including diplomacy, in our relationship with Iran" (Agence France-Presse I/Spacewar.com, Jan. 27).
Meanwhile, EU member nations yesterday moved to eliminate the terror listing of an exile group that leaked the first information on Iran's nuclear program , Reuters reported.
The removal of the People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran from the EU list of terrorist entities followed years of legal wrangling within the 27-country group.
"What we are doing today is abiding by the resolution of the European court," said EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
Iran quickly decried the move.
"It means becoming friends with terrorists," according to a reported Iranian Foreign Ministry statement. "Iran believes the European Union lacks legitimacy to fight against terrorists" (Mark John, Reuters, Jan. 26).
Elsewhere, Germany yesterday announced significant reductions to its export guarantees on trade with Iran, AFP reported.
German government spokesman Thomas Steg said that Berlin has "clearly reduced" the guarantees, which insure German businesses against nonpayment by entities in certain countries.
Germany has called on its businesses to "voluntarily limit" dealings with Tehran and "to recognize that it would be wise to support the diplomatic efforts of the international community" aimed at curtailing Iran's disputed nuclear activities, Steg said.
Berlin has still not moved to eliminate all Iranian export guarantees, he added.
Germany made the reductions to address U.S. and Israeli concerns about its strengthening economic ties with Iran, Handelsblatt reported (Agence France-Presse II/Spacewar.com, Jan. 26).