U.S. Is Debating Talks With Iran on Nuclear Issue

It's such a sensible move that one doubts whether it can really be coming from the bowels of the Bush administration.

There is rumoured to be talks in the White House about whether the US should abandon it's longstanding policy of refusing to have face to face talks with Iran regarding it's nuclear technology.

European officials say Ms. Rice has begun discussing the issue with top aides at the State Department. Her belief, they say, is that ultimately the matter will have to be addressed by the administration's national security officials, whether talks with Iran remain at an impasse or even if there is some progress.

But others who know her well say she is resisting on the ground that signaling a willingness to talk would show weakness and disrupt the delicate negotiations with Europe. Ms. Rice is also said to fear that the administration might end up making too many concessions to Iran.

Administration officials said President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld have opposed direct talks, even through informal back channels. As a result, many European officials say they doubt that a decision to talk is likely soon.

The prospect of direct talks between the United States and Iran is so politically delicate within the Bush administration that the officials who described the emerging debate would discuss it only after being granted anonymity.

Those officials included representatives of several European countries, as well as Americans who said they had discussed the issue recently with people inside the Bush administration. Some of the officials made clear that they favored direct talks between the United States and Iran.

I've never been a fan of Condi Rice, thinking her an over-promoted Presidential echo chamber.

It would take great guts for her to convince the administration to do the sensible thing here. If she has the balls to do this, I'll re-evaluate my opinion of her.

As I've often stated, you can't do diplomacy with a country that you refuse to talk to.

The US should sit down with Iran.

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Tags: Iran, UN, inspectors, inspections, crisis, US, war, uranium, nuclear weapons, ElBaradei, Bush, UN,