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United States to send envoy to Iran nuclear talks: official
In a shift in policy, the United States will send an envoy to talks this weekend between Iran and major powers over Tehran's nuclear programme, a senior US official said.
- Agencies
- Published: 11:01 July 16, 2008
- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran's nuclear work is purely for peaceful power-generation purposes.
- Image Credit: AP
Washington: In a shift in policy, the United States will send an envoy to talks this weekend between Iran and major powers over Tehran's nuclear programme, a senior US official said.
US Under Secretary of State William Burns will join European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and envoys from China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany in a meeting with Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili in Geneva on Saturday, the official said.
They will discuss Iran's response to an offer made by world powers last month to give up sensitive nuclear work that the West believes is aimed at building an atomic bomb and Tehran says is for peaceful power-generation purposes.
The United States had said previously it would not be involved in any pre-negotiations with Tehran unless it gave up uranium enrichment.
The US official made clear the ground rules were that Burns would not act as a negotiator and not meet separately with Jalili but would put forward the White House position that Iran must give up enrichment for any real talks to start.
"Bill Burns will reiterate our terms for negotiation remain the same," the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.
"This will be a one-time participation designed to show unity among major powers and the message will be very clear."
The US presence at the meeting did not indicate a restoration of full-blown diplomatic ties, the official said.
Tehran and Washington cut diplomatic ties shortly after the Iranian revolution of 1979. But the United States has held several rounds of talks over the past year with Iran over what it sees as Tehran's meddling in Iraq.
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