IRAN: Iran's president said yesterday he was ready to talk to the US if there was a change of attitude in Washington, which faces pressure to deal directly with Tehran to help ease violence in neighbouring Iraq.
The White House responded that Tehran must end its uranium enrichment, stop meddling in Iraq and play a constructive role in the Middle East.
"We have said from the beginning that we will talk with the American government, but under conditions," Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a press conference. "The conditions concern the attitude of the American government. If they correct their behaviour, we will talk to them like others."
Mr Ahmadinejad said he would soon send a message to the American people to explain his policies.
In May, he sent an 18-page letter to President Bush criticising US policies, but received no formal reply. Mr Bush described it as "interesting".
Iran so far runs two chains of 164 centrifuges, known as cascades, which can make fuel for use in nuclear power plants or material for warheads. Previously it had said it wanted 54,000 centrifuges. On their own, these cascades would take years to produce enough material for a bomb.
An International Atomic Energy Agency report obtained by Reuters yesterday said Iran is pushing ahead with uranium enrichment and still stonewalling IAEA investigations.
Meanwhile, James Baker, the former US secretary of state who is co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group, had a three-hour dinner in New York with Iran's UN ambassador Javad Zarif, the Washington Post has reported.
Hamid Reza Haji Babaee, a member of the Iranian parliament's national security committee, described the meeting as "the beginning of negotiations" with the US.