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Washington: The United States, in a major diplomatic shift, said on Wednesday it would join key European powers in talks with Iran if the Islamic Republic suspends its nuclear enrichment programme. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the talks offer was part of a package of incentives and sanctions whose "essential elements" have been agreed with Britain, France and Germany. Rice, in remarks prepared for delivery at the State Department, said the United States was determined to "give diplomacy its very best chance to succeed" in resolving the nuclear crisis with Iran, which has raised fears that Washington might at some point decide to take military action.
"Thus to underscore our commitment to a diplomatic solution and to enhance the prospects for success, as soon as Iran fully and verifiably suspends its enrichment and reprocessing activities, the United States will come to the table with our EU-3 colleagues and meet with Iran's representatives," she said according to a text provided by the State Department. Rice said Iran would incur "great costs" if it continued to pursue nuclear weapons. Her statement came with Washington under increasing pressure to join the negotiations led by its European allies Britain, France and Germany. To underscore the opening to the Islamic republic, a senior State Department official said a copy of the statement had been handed Wednesday to the ambassador of Switzerland, which manages US interests in Tehran, to be passed on to the Iranians. The official, who asked not to be named, said a copy was also being conveyed to Iran's ambassador to the United Nations in New York. Tehran says it is willing to negotiate on the number of uranium-enriching centrifuges it uses for research, but has stressed it would not stop running the devices entirely as the UN Security Council has called for. Iranian officials had no immediate comments on Wednesday on the US offer. Crude oil futures fell about $1.5 a barrel in New York trading following the Rice comments on Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer.
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