Months of tough-talking US diplomacy on Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program faded from view yesterday after Washington formally endorsed a new round of negotiations with Tehran following talks in New York with its major allies.
Tuesday night's meeting of seven nations closely involved in the Iran standoff had been billed by Washington as the moment when the international community would back up its demand that Tehran suspend its uranium enrichment program with UN sanctions against the Islamic republic.
The sanctions are called for under a unanimous UN Security Council resolution, which gave Iran until Aug. 31 to halt uranium enrichment. The US and others believe it is a cover for Tehran's nuclear weapons program.
But France, China and Russia have balked at following through with sanctions.
The standoff was at the center of discussions on Tuesday when US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hosted the dinner meeting of foreign ministers from the other four permanent Security Council members -- Britain, China, France and Russia. Germany and Italy were also invited to participate.
Instead of an agreement on how to proceed with punitive measures against Iran, the meeting resulted in Washington backing a plan for a new round of negotiations with the Iranians, a senior US official said.
Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said the negotiations would be conducted later this week between EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani.
There was "very strong support for Javier Solana's negotiations," including from the US, Burns told reporters after the meeting.
He said if Solana succeeds in convincing the Iranians to verifiably suspend their enrichment program, Rice would personally attend the launch of broader negotiations with Iran on improving relations with the Islamic state.
It would be the first direct negotiations between the two governments in 27 years.
Washington's endorsement of the Solana-Larijani talks was a stark change from recent weeks, when US officials repeatedly derided European calls for continued dialogue with Tehran.
The US said that dragging out talks would simply give Iran time to perfect its uranium enrichment work and set it firmly on the path to acquiring nuclear weapons.
Burns said that Tuesday's change in US policy reflected a new seriousness on the part of the Iranian negotiators.
"What happened is that [late last month] the Iranians finally got serious," he said, calling a recent round of Solana-Larijani talks in Europe "the most serious discussions" yet on resolving the crisis.
"So we are in extra innings," Burns said. "We are seeking a diplomatic solution and the [US] is certainly willing to support Solana's discussions."
But US officials still insisted they won't allow the talks to drag on indefinitely and will not agree to join the negotiations directly until Iran has effectively "and verifiably" suspended uranium enrichment.
A senior official who attended Tuesday's meeting said the seven powers had set a new deadline for Iran to agree to the UN's demands, although he would not reveal the date other than say it would come up "shortly."
But it remained far from clear that Washington, weakened diplomatically by the crisis in Iraq and its handling of the recent Israel-Lebanon conflict, would be able to enforce the new deadline after failing to convince allies to respect the Aug. 31 limit laid down in the previous UN resolution on Iran.
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