Bush willing to delay Iran sanctions
The Bush administration said today it was willing to defer seeking UN sanctions against Iran for a few weeks if there is a chance for a diplomatic resolution of a long-running dispute over Iran’s nuclear programmes.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned senior European diplomat Javier Solana today “and we do fully support his efforts” to hold talks with Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
The United States had demanded Iran suspend its uranium processing as a precondition to negotiations.
McCormack said whether Iran was agreeable to a temporary suspension would not be known until Solana met with Larijani.
“Their disposition to this point has not been to give clear answers” and it may require several meetings to find out, McCormack said.
And yet, the spokesman said, “There may be an opportunity here, there may be a little opening if we just give the Iranians a little time and space.”
“Perhaps they will come through with a positive answer,” he said.
