US: The United States, in a major policy shift towards Iran, said yesterday it would join European governments in talks with Tehran if it suspended its nuclear enrichment programme.
President Bush said the US was taking a "leadership position" to resolve the Iran nuclear dispute diplomatically, but secretary of state Condoleezza Rice stressed that the military option was still on the table.
"The president is not going to take any of his options off the table, temporarily or otherwise," Ms Rice told a news conference.
She said the talks offer was part of a package of incentives and sanctions whose "essential elements" have been agreed with Britain, France and Germany and will be discussed further today in Vienna.
The resumption of diplomatic ties with Iran was not under consideration and Iran would incur "great costs" if it continued to pursue nuclear weapons, she said.
Iranian officials had no immediate comment on the US offer but European allies France and Britain welcomed it.
"The US offer will . . . give added weight to the proposals which foreign ministers will be discussing in Vienna tomorrow," British foreign minister Margaret Beckett said in a statement.
French foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy urged the Iranian authorities to respond in a "constructive manner" to European proposals.
Ms Rice also said she hoped the offer would create a "climate of action" and get Iran to suspend what Washington and its allies consider to be its nuclear weapons programme."It's time to know whether Iran is serious about negotiation or not," she said.
Tehran says it is willing to negotiate on the number of uranium-enriching centrifuges it uses for research, but has stressed it would not stop running the devices entirely, as the UN Security Council has called for.
Crude oil futures fell about $1.50 a barrel in New York trading following Ms Rice's comments on Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer.
The US, along with the EU-3 of France, Germany and Britain, has been working with Russia and China on a "carrot-and-stick" package for Iran. US officials yesterday said Russia and China generally support the package but there were still some details to negotiate during today's talks.
The US, aiming to win Russian support, has accepted language in a proposed UN Security Council resolution that would rule out the immediate threat of military action against Tehran, US and European officials said.
The compromise involves not invoking the whole of chapter 7 of the UN Charter as Washington had been demanding, but citing specific articles that leave out the one referring to use of force, the officials said.
Iran has rejected in advance the planned overture as akin to offering "candies for gold".