State Department
13 April 2009
The United States Monday said it welcomed a conciliatory Iranian
statement about possible new talks with world powers on its nuclear
program. But the State Department says it remains skeptical that Iran's
nuclear program is peaceful.
The Iranian state news media
reported Monday that the Tehran government's chief nuclear negotiator had spoken by telephone with European Union chief diplomat
Javier Solana over the weekend.
Jalili is said to have told
Solana Iran would welcome dialogue on "constructive cooperation" on the
nuclear issue with the five permanent U.N. Security Council member
countries and Germany, the so-called P-5 Plus 1.
Last week, the Obama
administration said it was ready to take full part in the big power
dialogue with Iran, breaking with the Bush administration which had
insisted that Iran first suspend uranium enrichment.
At a news
briefing Monday, State Department Acting Spokesman Robert Wood said the
United States welcomes the fact Iran is interested in dialogue but is
skeptical about Iranian professions of peaceful nuclear intent.
 |
| Reactor building of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran (File) |
"We
want to deal with Iran on this issue. It's an important issue to the
international community, and Iran needs to show the international
community that its nuclear program is a peaceful one. Right now the
international community is very skeptical about that," said Wood. "But as I've said,
we want to directly engage Iran on a range of issues. And we encourage
Iran to come forward and provide the international community with all
the assurances that it requires, to be convinced that Iran is pursuing
a peaceful nuclear program."
Wood said a
"sincere offer" by the P-5 Plus 1 to provide Iran with a
"substantive package of incentives" to stop enrichment and return to
negotiations remains on the table.
The enhanced sanctions
package, presented by the six powers at a meeting in Geneva last July,
was spurned by Iran, which said it has a right to pursue its enrichment
drive as part of a peaceful nuclear program.
A senior State
Department official said no date has been set for a P-5 Plus 1 meeting with Iran and that despite the latest Iranian comments, he said
he did not think one is imminent.
He said if a meeting is held,
it would likely be at the so-called "political director" level and
involve, on the U.S. side, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs
William Burns and not Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.