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Rice:
Iran Not Serious at Nuclear Talks
 US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice accused Iran on Monday of not being serious at weekend
talks about its disputed nuclear program despite the presence of a
senior US diplomat, and warned it may soon face new sanctions. In her
first public comments since Saturday's meeting in Switzerland, Rice
said Iran had given the run-around to envoys from the US and five other
world powers. She said all six nations were serious about a two-week
deadline Iran now has to agree to freeze suspect activities and start
negotiations or be hit with new penalties.
At the meeting, Iran had been expected to respond to a package of
incentives offered in exchange for halting enrichment of uranium, which
can be used to fuel atomic weapons. The Bush administration broke with
long-standing policy to send a top diplomat to support the offer.
However, Rice said that instead of a coherent answer, Iran's chief
nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili delivered a "meandering" monologue full
of irrelevant "small talk about culture" that appeared to annoy many of
the others present at the table in Geneva.
"We expected to hear an answer from the Iranians but, as has been the
case so many times with the Iranians, what came through was not
serious," Rice told reporters aboard her plane as she flew to the
United Arab Emirates. "It's time for the Iranians to give a serious
answer."
"They can't go and stall and make small talk about culture, they have
to make a decision," she said. "People are tired of the Iranians and
their stalling tactics."
Rice's remarks about the Iranian presentation were much harsher than
those of the host of the meeting, European Union foreign policy chief
Javier Solana, who lamented only that Iran had not provided "all the
answers to the questions."
On Sunday, Iranian state radio reported that Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadenijad had called the talks a "step ahead" and said country's
formal assessment would be issued soon.
On Saturday, one member of the Iranian delegation said there was "no
chance" Iran would suspend uranium enrichment, again denying assertions
that Iran's nuclear program was for anything other than power
production. Jalili avoided the suspension issue entirely.
Unless Iran responds positively in the next two weeks, it can expect
more sanctions to be imposed by the United States and the European
Union as early as late August or September and may then be hit with a
fourth sanctions resolution at the UN Security Council, Rice said.
"We will see what Iran does in two weeks, but I think the diplomatic
process now has a new kind of energy to it," she said. "If they do not
decide to suspend then we will be in a situation where we have to
return to the Security Council."
Rice was briefed on the meeting by the State Department's No. 3
diplomat, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns,
who attended the session in a shift from Washington's previous
insistence that it would not meet with the Iranians unless the
enrichment had stopped.
High-level contact between the United States and Iran is extremely rare
and Burns' presence at the talks may have confused the Iranians, Rice
said, acknowledging a tactical change to demonstrate US unity with the
other five powers: Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.
"From time to time, it is important to invigorate the diplomacy," she
said. "I think that the fact that we went may have been a bit
surprising to the Iranians, and they didn't react in a way that gave
anyone any confidence."
The offer envisions a six-week commitment from Iran to stop expanding
enrichment, during which time no additional sanctions would be imposed.
That is intended to create the framework for formal negotiations that,
it is hoped, will lead to a permanent halt of enrichment.
Rice was dismissive when asked if Burns or another US diplomat would be present to hear Iran's response in two weeks.
"I think we've done enough to demonstrate that the United States is
serious and to assure our partners that we're serious," she said.
Source: Jerusalem Post
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