WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says it is prepared to talk one-on-one with Iran to find a diplomatic settlement to the impasse over Tehran's reported pursuit of nuclear weapons, but there's no agreement now to meet.
National Security Council
spokesman Tommy Vietor said Saturday that President Barack Obama has
made clear that he will prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and
will do whatever’s necessary to prevent that from happening. Vietor said
Iran must come in line with its obligations, or else faced increased
pressure.
“The onus is on the Iranians to do so, otherwise they
will continue to face crippling sanctions and increased pressure,”
Vietor said in a statement. He noted that efforts to get Iran back to
the table with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council
and Germany — the so-called “P5+1” — continue.
Iran has been a
recurring issue in the presidential election campaign and Vietor’s
statement was released shortly after The New York Times reported
Saturday that the U.S. and Iran have agreed in principle for the first
time to negotiations. The paper said Iran has insisted the talks wait
until after the Nov. 6 election.
Vietor, however, denied that any such agreement had been reached.
“It’s
not true that the United States and Iran have agreed to one-on-one
talks or any meeting after the American elections,” he said. We continue
to work with the P5+1 on a diplomatic solution and have said from the
outset that we that we would be prepared to meet bilaterally.”
Obama
and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will meet Monday
night in a debate focusing on foreign policy and Iran’s nuclear
ambitions will likely be a topic. Obama has said he’ll prevent Iran from
acquiring nuclear weapons. He hopes sanctions alongside negotiations
can get Iran to halt uranium enrichment. But the strategy, which began
during President George W. Bush’s administration, hasn’t worked yet.
Obama holds out the threat of military action as a last resort. Romney
has accused Obama of being weak on Iran and says the U.S. needs to
present a greater military threat.
Despite unprecedented global
penalties, Iran’s nuclear program is advancing as it continues to defy
international pressure, including four rounds of sanctions from the U.N.
Security Council, to prove that its atomic intentions are peaceful.
Those
sanctions, coupled with tough measures imposed by the United States and
European nations are taking their toll, particularly on Iran’s economy.
Iranian authorities have in recent weeks been forced to quell protests
over the plummeting value of the country’s currency, the rial. The rial
lost nearly 40 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar in a week in
early October, but has since slightly rebounded.
U.S. officials
say they are hopeful that pressure from the sanctions may be pushing
Iran’s leaders toward concessions, including direct talks with the
United States. But several said on Saturday that they did not believe
such discussions would happen any time soon.
If one-on-one talks
are to occur, they would likely follow the model that the U.S. has used
in six-nation nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea, the officials
said.
In those discussions, U.S. negotiators have met separately
with their North Korean counterparts but only as part of the larger
effort, which also involves China, Japan, South Korea and Russia. Direct U.S.-North Korean talks are preceded and followed by intense consultations with the other members of the group.
However,
the direct talks with North Korea have yet to bear fruit and U.S.
officials warned that talks with Iran may not yield anything either. If
U.S.-Iran talks do occur, they would likely be part of the P5+1 process,
which groups the Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia
and the United States and is overseen by the European Union. The group
has met numerous times with Iranian officials but has yet to achieve any
significant progress.
In late September, the group instructed EU
foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to reach out to Iran’s top nuclear
negotiator, Saeed Jalili, to organize another meeting. No date had been
set for the possible resumption of talks.
Iran says its program
is for peaceful energy and research purposes but Western nations fear
the Islamic republic is determined to develop nuclear weapons and
fundamentally reshape the balance of power in the Middle East. That
would pose a grave threat to Israel.
Israel has threatened to
strike Iran’s nuclear facilities if Tehran doesn’t stop uranium
enrichment a process that can be a pathway to nuclear arms. Israel could
decide to strike Iran’s nuclear sites on its own, and Israeli leaders
say time to act is running out. They have also hinted they would like
U.S. support for any such attack.
An Israeli strike on Iran with
or without Washington’s involvement would likely draw retribution from
Tehran including possible attacks on U.S. and Israeli interests overseas
or disruptions to the transit of tankers through the Strait of Hormuz,
which could send oil prices skyrocketing.
Obama has counseled
patience as public as American public support for another Mideast
conflict is low with the Iraq war over and the conflict in Afghanistan
winding down.
