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Iran willing to talk with US on iraq Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4334091.htmlhttp://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4334091.html
Nov. 14, 2006, 2:07PM
Ahmadinejad: Iran open to talk with U.S.
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
TEHRAN, Iran — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that Iran would talk to the United States if it "corrects its behavior," but the White House said there would be no discussions until Tehran took a more constructive role in the region.
Ahmadinejad's comment was the highest-level Iranian statement in recent months that the government is willing to talk to Washington, which it has long demonized as "the Great Satan." It also came a day after British Prime Minister Tony Blair advocated seeking Tehran's help in ending the violence in Iraq.
At a news conference, Ahmadinejad did not spell out any other conditions for U.S.-Iranian talks, but he accused the Bush administration of pursuing a foreign policy based on aggression, oppression, unilateralism and disrespect for other nations.
Ahmadinejad did not define the scope of any talks with the United States, nor did he say that Iraq or the nuclear dispute would be on the agenda of such discussions.
At the news conference, Ahmadinejad said: "We are after positive interaction with the whole world, excluding a country that we don't recognize" _ a reference to Israel.
"We won't talk to the Zionist regime because it is a usurper and an illegitimate entity. But we will talk to the U.S. government under certain conditions. Should it correct its behavior, we will talk to them," the president said.
In Washington, White House National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said: "I don't think this is about a U.S. attitude adjustment. The collective attitude of the world is that Iran needs to play a constructive role in the region, not meddle in Iraq and stop its enrichment activities."
The United States and the Iraqi government have long accused Iran of aiding the insurgency in Iraq _ a charge Iran denies. Johndroe pointed out that Blair had said Monday that Iran must stop interfering in Iraq and cease uranium enrichment.
Iran has proposed talks with the United States about Iraq twice this year, first in March and then on Nov. 5. In the most recent proposal, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said Tehran would consider talks with the U.S. over regional issues, including Iraq, if Washington requested.
Weeks after the first proposal of talks, Iran withdrew the offer. When Tehran renewed the offer this month, analysts said that Iran was concerned about the escalating turmoil in Iraq and might also be seeking to slow Washington's push for sanctions over its nuclear program.
The United States welcomed the first offer of talks, but said the negotiations would be confined to Iraq.
On Tuesday, President Bush said his line on Iran was: "We are willing to come to the table with the European Union, as well as Russia and China to discuss a way forward" in relations.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Bush said repeated the condition that he set weeks ago _ that for talks, Iran must agree to verifiably suspend its uranium enrichment activities.
One option under discussion at one point by a bipartisan Iraq Study Group headed by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton was for greater cooperation with Iran and Syria.
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