US: The White House yesterday ruled out previously authorised direct talks between Tehran and the US ambassador in Baghdad. The move marks a hardening of the Bush administration's position, despite pressure from the international community to enter into dialogue with Iran.
A White House official said that, although the US envoy had originally been granted a mandate for talks with Iran, "we have decided not to pursue it".
Western diplomats hoped that the talks, which were to have focused on the situation in Iraq, could have widened into a discussion of Iran's alleged nuclear arms programme. Iran has been asking recently for direct talks with Washington on the nuclear issue, and the Bush administration had come under pressure from UN secretary general Kofi Annan and countries such as Germany to hold direct talks.
Washington's decision not to pursue the talks, which would have been conducted by American ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, came as the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China concluded a meeting in London last night to discuss a new offer to Iran.
The British Foreign Office reported progress on agreeing on a combination of sticks and carrots to try to entice Iran into suspending its uranium-enrichment programme, which is seen by the West as a step towards achieving a nuclear weapons capability.
The progress at the meeting contrasted with a bad-tempered discussion on May 8th between the foreign ministers of the six countries in New York.
The decision not to pursue direct talks has exposed rifts in the Bush administration on how to deal with Iran. Mr Khalilzad told reporters on Sunday that the formation of the Iraqi government had cleared the way for direct negotiations with Iranian officials.
"We have a lot of issues to discuss with them with regard to our concerns and what we envision for Iraq and are prepared to listen to their concerns," he said.
However, Frederick Jones, a US National Security Council spokesman, said yesterday there were no longer any plans for talks. In the London meeting, senior officials discussed the detail of an offer to construct a light-water nuclear reactor for Iran, which is seen as less of a threat than its uranium-enrichment programme. But the package also includes a threat to punish Iran with sanctions if it refuses to suspend uranium-enrichment.
These sanctions would include a ban on arms sales, no transfer of nuclear technology, no visas for Iranian leaders and officials, and freezing their assets.