Telegraph – President George W Bush has said his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice could hold informal talks with Iranian leaders at an international conference on Iraq next week, signalling a significant shift in the US administration’s stance towards the Islamic republic.
Telegraph – President George W Bush has said his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice could hold informal talks with Iranian leaders at an international conference on Iraq next week, signalling a significant shift in the US administration’s stance towards the Islamic republic.
In a television interview, Mr Bush said Miss Rice could meet her Iranian counterpart on the sidelines of the conference being held in Egypt.
Earlier this week Miss Rice said that if Manouchehr Mottaki did not attend the meeting in Sharm el-Sheik it would be a "missed opportunity" and emphasized that America’s aim in Iran was not regime change but a "change in the regime".
Mr Bush told the PBS network on Tuesday night that if a meeting did occur, Miss Rice’s message to the Iranians would be: "Don’t send weapons in [to Iraq] that will end up hurting our troops, and help this young democracy survive."
He said that it was too early for formal bilateral talks between the two countries, which have been at hostile odds since 1979, when revolutionary students stormed the American embassy in Teheran and Washington cut diplomatic ties.
Although there have been periodic diplomatic contacts, the Bush administration has resisted pressure at home and abroad to engage Iran in an effort to improve security in neighbouring Iraq, where Iran sends weapons and logistical and financial support to fellow Shia militants.
US policy began to change this spring when lower-level State Department officials met Iranian and Syrian diplomats at a regional conference in Baghdad.
Washington has combined softer words with raising its military profile in the region, sending in a second aircraft carrier into the Persian Gulf and conducting massive air exercises.
It also continues to detain five Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Iraq suspected of abetting or plotting terror attacks.
What to do with the prisoners has reportedly caused major rows within the Bush administration, with Miss Rice urging their release and vice-president Dick Cheney strongly objecting.
Iranian officials meanwhile met EU negotiators yesterday in an effort to reach a compromise over its nuclear programme. On the eve of the talks, Western officials said a compromise might be suggested by which Iran can keep some of its uranium enrichment program rather than dismantling it entirely.
Teheran has ignored two United Nations deadlines to stop enrichment, a key stage towards building a nuclear bomb. It maintains that energy is the only goal of its nuclear programme.