US senators call for direct talks with Iran
Iran-USA, Politics, 4/19/2006

Commenting about the call by leading US Senators Senator Christopher Dodd and Richard Lugar for direct talks by the US with Iran, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said yesterday "we have great respect for Senators Lugar and Senator Dodd. I can only say what we're doing right now, and that is we're working the diplomatic process, we're working the P-5+1, working through the G-7, G-8 and working through the Security Council as well as the IAEA Board of Governors."

McCormack said " We have also in the past supported the efforts of the EU-3 in offering the Iranians a diplomatic way out while meeting their desires for a peaceful nuclear program and objective guarantees for the international community. We have supported the efforts of the Russian Government in, again, trying to give the Iranians, the Iranian regime, a diplomatic way out."

He added "Thus far, they have -- those efforts have been met only with rejection, stalling, the salami-slicing tactics. So, you know, it is really incumbent at this point on the Iranian regime to show good faith to the international community. The international community has laid out the various ways that Iran could do that. So it's really upon the -- it's really up to the Iranian regime at this point to meet the conditions laid out by the international community to try to rebuild that trust that has really been eroded to nonexistence at this point."

He added "They've had a number of different opportunities working with the international community to take them up on their offers. We are not without channels of communication with the Iranian regime, although we don't have diplomatic relations with them. The Swiss channel, certainly if there's information that needs to be passed through the United Nations Perm Rep, that's certainly an open channel. So there's no shortage of channels of communication if the Iranian regime wants to convey something to us."

McCormack was asked that "both China and Russia have welcomed Iran into the fold of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the SCO, which has maintained it had no plans for expansion and suddenly, they're having a summit for June 15th. And the group is saying that they're endorsing the Iranian nuclear activities and are against the IAEA picking on Iran. Do you have any comments concerning that?" to which he indicated that he was not aware of such development.

Previous Stories:
  On US threats against Iran   (4/18/2006)
  Rafsanjani: Iran accepts US call for talks on Iraq   (4/18/2006)
  Iranian official: US should recognize Iraq's political determination   (4/17/2006)

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