Rice talks about Iran nuclear program with Arab allies
Washington, 22 July (IranVNC)—US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stopped in Abu Dhabi yesterday to consult with her Arab counterparts on the nuclear dispute with Iran and new developments following Saturday’s nuclear talks between major powers and Iran in Geneva.
By: IranVNC
Published: Tuesday, July 22, 2008
13:30GMT—9:30AM/EST
U.S. – UAE – GULF – IRAN – NORTH KOREA
Washington, 22 July (IranVNC)—US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stopped in Abu Dhabi yesterday to consult with her Arab counterparts on the nuclear dispute with Iran and new developments following Saturday’s nuclear talks between major powers and Iran in Geneva.
Rice met yesterday with United Arab Emirates [UAE]
Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, who called for “diplomatic solutions” to regional issues, a position held by many Arab states in the region, AFP reports.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit was
reported by Al-Jazeera News as also calling for a “peaceful resolution of the Iranian crisis”.
“The Arab position is to work toward a political and diplomatic settlement under which Iran will maintain the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes but at the same time, we don't want to see another military nuclear power in this region,” MENA quoted Gheit as saying, reports AP.
Rice also met foreign ministers and officials from the six Gulf Cooperation Council [GCC] members – Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE – plus Jordan, Egypt and Iraq, to discuss other regional issues, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Syria and the Middle East peace process.
En route to Abu Dhabi, Secretary Rice warned Iran of further consequences if it did not agree to international demands to halt its uranium enrichment activities. Rice, who described Iran’s performance in Geneva as “meandering”, said its failure to respond on Saturday did not “give anyone confidence in them.”
Rice is now on her way to Singapore for meetings with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations [ASEAN], including talks with foreign ministers from China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas, on Pyongyang’s progress towards nuclear disarmament.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told reporters today that the talks, which are the first to be held by the six foreign ministers on North Korea’s nuclear program, will be beneficial in advancing the spirit of the six-party talks.
But Rice seemed to downplay the significance, saying: “I wouldn’t call it either historic or monumental or even consequential,” according to the State Department website. US envoy Christopher Hill described tomorrow’s meeting as a “conversation” that will focus on the verification process and the next stages.
Meanwhile, the White House said yesterday that North Korea and Iran remain in the category of what President George W. Bush called an “axis of evil” in January 2002.
“I think that until they give up their nuclear weapons programs completely and verifiably, I think that we keep them in the same category,” White House spokesperson Dana Perino said yesterday.
Sources: State Department website, White House website, Agence France-Presse, Reuters, Al-Jazeera News, Associated Press
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