After 30 years, US accepts face-to-face talks with Iran

The Iranian foreign minister, right, presents Iran's package of proposals to the ambassadors of France, Russia, and the Swiss ambassador, who represents US interests in Tehran.

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:33:01 GMT

After Iran's lead nuclear negotiator expressed readiness to resume talks over the country's nuclear program and a range of other issues with the West, the Obama administration responds by accepting Tehran's offer to meet face-to-face.

According to a report by the New York Times, the United States has broken with the past American policy of shunning direct talks with Iran and is ready to "put a senior representative from the Obama administration at the bargaining table, along with emissaries from five other nations, for the first time since Mr. Obama took office."

Saeed Jalili, the Iranian chief nuclear negotiator, issued a statement in early September saying that Tehran had completed a package of proposals "regarding all security, political and economic issues, in addition to the nuclear issue."

Jalili, who is also the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, added that the Islamic Republic is ready to cooperate with Western countries to 'remove common concerns [about its nuclear program] in the international arena.'

Iran faces pressure to halt its nuclear enrichment, as world powers believe its program is aimed at building a nuclear bomb.

Tehran, however, has denied seeking nuclear weapons and called for the removal of all weapons of mass destruction across the globe.

While Iran is already under three rounds of UN Security Council sanctions resolutions for its enrichment work, tougher sanctions are likely to be considered against the country.

US President Barack Obama had earlier declared that Western powers would give Iran until September to resume talks on its much-debated program.

The controversial decision by the US to engage directly with Iran comes as Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Saturday that Tehran is ready for talks with the West on the basis of its latest package of proposals but reiterated that there will not be any 'compromise' on the nuclear issue.

Mottaki told a press conference that Iran would not relinquish its fundamental rights to acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Despite Mottaki's remarks, a State Department spokesman, Philip J. Crowley, said "If we have talks, we will plan to bring up the nuclear issue."

CS/MD