Rice hopes Iran will change course in Geneva talks

Washington: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday the United States would not soften its refusal to negotiate directly with Iran until Tehran gave up its nuclear program.

In a change of policy, Senior State Department official William Burns will attend nuclear talks in Geneva along with other major powers.

Rice said Burns would deliver a clear message: Washington would only enter full-blown negotiations with if Iran stopped trying to develop an atomic weapon.

"That remains the US position and it will continue to be the US position," Rice said at a news conference.

While Iran was a "difficult and dangerous state," Rice said she believed any country could change course.