Europeans may meet with Iran, sans U.S.
Updated 9/16/2006 9:14 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Subscribe to stories like this
WASHINGTON (AP) — European diplomats are considering a meeting with Iran on the sidelines of next week's U.N. General Assembly in hopes of de-escalating the standoff over Tehran's nuclear program — but the United States won't be getting an invitation.
The Bush administration, which is pushing for U.N. sanctions against Iran, has said it will join European-led negotiations with Iran only if it stops its uranium enrichment work first.
That has led European negotiators to work on having a meeting — without America — in which Iran could say it is temporarily suspending enrichment activities because new negotiations had indeed begun.
A U.S. official confirmed that European diplomats were contemplating the meeting, but White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore would say only that President Bush has consistently supported talks with Iran, led by Britain, France and Germany. "He is hopeful that ongoing negotiations will encourage the Iranian government to suspend its enrichment and reprocessing activities," she said.
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