Posted on 05/10/2003 5:11:19 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
U.S., Iran Hold Direct Talks in Geneva 2 hours, 16 minutes ago Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Jonathan Wright
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. and Iranian officials met face to face in Geneva "very recently" to talk about Iran's neighbors Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites), where the United States has a military presence, a U.S. official said on Saturday.
The meeting took place with the help of the United Nations (news - web sites) but only the U.S. and Iranian officials were present, he said. Iran and United States have met previously in the context of multilateral talks with Afghanistan's neighbors and Russia.
The official, who asked not to be named, said the aim of the contacts was to discuss specific issues, not to establish diplomatic relations or initiate the open-agenda dialogue which former U.S. President Bill Clinton (news - web sites) sought with Iran.
"Our focus has not been on pursuing dialogue but on addressing particular issues of interest to us," he said.
The United States cut diplomatic ties with Iran after radical students seized its embassy in Tehran in 1979 following the Islamic Revolution which toppled the U.S.-backed Shah.
Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites), talking to reporters on his plane between Washington and Tel Aviv on Saturday, said: "The issue of diplomatic relations is not on the table right now but we have ways (of communicating with Tehran), and we use them on a regular basis, very recently."
"We do have channels that we are using with the Iranians and communicating to them that they ought to review their policies in light of the changed strategic situation, with particular emphasis on their nuclear weapons development program," he added.
SHIFTING RHETORIC
Iran and the United States also have a shared interest in the fate of the Mujahideen Khalq, the Iranian opposition movement also known as the People's Mujahideen which has military forces in Iraq.
Both countries want to disband the Mujahideen but analysts say the United States is unlikely to hand over the Mujahideen fighters to Iran, where many might face execution.
The U.S. military said on Saturday the Mujahideen had agreed to come under its control, yielding after U.S. tanks and troops poured into their strongholds near the Iranian border.
The Bush administration has shifted its rhetoric on Iran several times since taking office in January 2001.
At first it sought dialogue, but after the September 11 attacks in 2001 President Bush (news - web sites) branded Iran part of the "axis of evil," along with Iraq and North Korea (news - web sites).
Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage said Iran was different from the others because it was democratic, but the Bush administration has complained more and more vocally about Iran's rapidly developing nuclear programs.
Iran vowed on Friday to work closely with the U.N. atomic watchdog to show its nuclear program was solely for peaceful purposes. A Foreign Ministry official said Iran did "not have anything to hide."
A group of conservatives close to the Bush administration has started to advocate "regime change" in Iran, with the son of the late Shah as their candidate as ruler.
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This needs no translation for FReepers.
In other words, the meeting was a complete f***-up.
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