Iran says U.S. must lift preconditions for talks to take place

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Jun. 01 – Iranian officials said on Thursday that the United States had to lift its preconditions before they were willing to accept the offer by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to take part in direct talks with the U.S. over Tehran’s sensitive nuclear activities. Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Jun. 01 – Iranian officials said on Thursday that the United States had to lift its preconditions before they were willing to accept the offer by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to take part in direct talks with the U.S. over Tehran’s sensitive nuclear activities.

“The precondition that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is seeking for talks to take place is not appropriate, especially after the Islamic Republic has announced on numerous occasions that it will not abandon its nuclear rights”, Kazem Jalali, a hard-line Majlis (Parliament) deputy and spokesman for Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told state television.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Thursday that Rice’s offer of dialogue with Iran over its nuclear activities contained no new solution to the standoff.

“If America really seeks a change, it must change its own attitude”, Mottaki said.

Iran’s Oil Minister Seyyed Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh announced late Wednesday in the Venezuelan capital Caracas that Tehran was not prepared to negotiate over nuclear research it was carrying out, the government-run news agency Fars reported.

“We will never negotiate over the nuclear fuel cycle which we obtained through the efforts of our scientists”, Vaziri-Hamaneh said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi told the official news agency on Thursday that the Islamic Republic was willing to take part in direct negotiations with the U.S. if the talks were held without any preconditions.

“Rice’s remarks were full of rhetoric and lacked solid foundations. American officials will be better off speaking about things which are real rather than relying on their imaginations”, Asefi said.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday that Washington was willing to take part in direct talks with Tehran over the latter’s nuclear program on the condition that Iran suspends its uranium enrichment activities.