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Untold
Story: Secret U.S.-Iranian talks? |
Posted By Amina
Anderson
Today’s meeting between the EU’s
foreign policy chief Javier Solana and
Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Ali
Larijani in Turkey signals a continued
EU wish to find a compromise over
Tehran’s nuclear program and avoid
confrontation with a major oil
supplier and trade partner.
The meeting, which came days after the
EU expanded sanctions against Iran
over its refusal to suspend its
uranium enrichment program, complies
with the EU’s “carrot and stick”
approach with Tehran - tougher
sanctions on the one hand, with
economic incentives on the other.
This approach is different than that
of the United States, which claims
that it is dedicated to finding a
diplomatic solution but does not
engage with the Iranians and does not
rule out military action as a last
resort. However, recent developments
suggest that the calls of those who
favor engagement with Tehran have been
finally heard by the Bush
administration, according to an
article on McClatchy newspaper.
Quoting top U.S. officials, the paper
said American officials have increased
their back-channel diplomatic contacts
with their Iranian counterparts in
recent months. Using Switzerland as an
intermediary, U.S. and Iranian
officials have exchanged diplomatic
messages on a variety of issues,
including the fate of former FBI agent
Robert Levinson who is missing in
Iran, the future of five Iranian
officials seized by U.S. occupation
forces in Iraq last January, as well
as old financial and property
disputes, the sources said.
"There's no doubt there's more
willingness to talk now than there was
a few years ago," an unidentified
State Department official was quoted
as saying.
Although the talks do not focus on the
biggest U.S.-Iranian dispute: Iran's
uranium-enrichment program, they
indicate a major shift in the policy
of the United States, which repeatedly
rebuffed Tehran’s offers of
wide-ranging talks on its nuclear
program, Middle East peace and direct
relations after the 2003 U.S.-led
invasion of Iraq.
Western diplomats also said that
Washington, as well as other Western
powers, expressed readiness to allow
Iran to keep some its uranium
enrichment program intact instead of
demanding its complete dismantling.
Apparently, this option could be a
good compromise as Western states
refuse to resume full negotiations
with Iran unless it completely halts
its nuclear program, something the
Islamic Republic strongly rejects.
All the recent developments indicate
that there’s potentially more
flexibility in the U.S.’s position
than before, an American official was
quoted as saying.
But it remains unclear whether the
shift in Washington’s approach
toward Iran is a long-term shift or a
tactic to persuade Tehran to attend
another regional meeting about
Iraq’s future that would be held in
Egypt next week .
Iran, which attended the first
conference in Iraq last March, has
threatened to boycott the meeting
unless the U.S. releases the five
Iranians held in Iraq.
In another sign that the Bush
administration is bowing to Congress
pressure to open dialogue with Iran
and Syria to stabilize Iraq, the U.S.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
due to travel to the Egyptian Red Sea
resort of Sharm el-Sheik to attend the
Iraq conference, urged Tehran to send
an envoy.
It would be a "missed
opportunity" for Iran if it
didn't show up, Rice told the
Financial Times this week.
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