Iran would welcome Ahmadinejad-Obama talks, says official
Published: Friday, November 28, 2008
19:41GMT—14:41PM/EST
OBAMA –AHMADINEJAD – NUCLEAR TALKS
Washington 28 November (IranVNC)— Esfandiyar Rahim-Mashaei, Iran’s Vice President for Tourism, Handicraft and Cultural Heritage said in Japan today that Iran would welcome talks between Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the US President-elect Barack Obama, but that any such talks must be held in complete transparency.
Mashaei said in an interview with the Kyodo News Agency that “direct diplomacy is the best way to peace", but added that Obama must distance himself from the position assumed by Washington until now in order to achieve a real change, Reuters reports.
Iran has so far refused to comply with the UN Security Council demands to suspend its controversial uranium enrichment program, which Western powers fear is aimed at developing nuclear weapons.
Obama earlier this month called for an international effort to stop Iran from developing such weapons.
Mohamed ElBaradei, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA], last week reiterated the need for “maximum transparency” on the part of the Islamic Republic regarding questions raised by Western intelligence sources, which suggest that Iran has carried out nuclear weaponization studies.
Iran, which announced earlier this week that it has 5,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium, has called the intelligence a forgery.
But in a meeting with Mashaei today, Japan’s foreign minister, Hirofumi Nakasone, said Iran needed to win the trust of the international community by responding to questions about its nuclear program, AP reports.
Separately, Bloomberg News Agency reported on 26 November that Russia is urging the incoming Obama administration to normalize relations with Iran in an effort to resolve the nuclear standoff.
Russia has been in contact with people close to Obama through its embassy in Washington, DC, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was cited by Bloomberg as saying. The incoming administration understood that dialogue at all levels was the only way to resolve the conflict, he added.
Sources: Reuters, Associated Press
© IranVNC 2008. All rights reserved.