Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
International
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Environment
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
World powers welcome Obama's talk offer to Iran
Wed Feb 4, 2009 10:40am EST
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Marilyn Gerlach
WIESBADEN, Germany (Reuters) - World powers on Wednesday said they were committed to a diplomatic solution on the issue of Iran's nuclear program and welcomed U.S. President Barack Obama's offer to talk directly with Tehran.
"(We) emphasize a common commitment to a diplomatic solution based on the dual track strategy," said a German official who quoted from a joint statement from the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany.
He was referring to the longstanding two-track approach of using diplomacy and the threat of international sanctions to persuade Tehran to rein in its nuclear program.
The powers, who met on Wednesday for the first time on Iran since Obama took office on January 20, urged Iran to comply fully with U.N. demands, which include a halt to uranium enrichment and opening up to a U.N. nuclear watchdog investigation.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman had no immediate comment on the big powers' statement.
Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, opposed direct talks with Iran to resolve the standoff, but Washington is now reviewing its Iran policy. The new administration is considering a range of options to get Iran to change its behavior.
A European official, who was involved in the talks but declined to be named, told Reuters that all partners present were encouraged by the change in U.S. approach.
"This is going to be an important period we are going into. It's a new beginning although still on the dual track," he said.
"(The United States) didn't come to this meeting to tell us what their new policy was, they came to talk through where we were ... This was not a moment for anyone to make (new) policy. This meeting was part of the policy review."
NEW MEETING
Another European official said there had been no talk of new sanctions at the meeting and that partners would meet again once Washington had completed its review process, with a gathering likely to take place in London in March.
But a representative of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed the possibility that the hostile state of relations with Washington would change under Obama.
"Opposing the Zionist regime and defending oppressed people are among the pillars of the Islamic revolution and Iran and America's relationship will not change because of Obama taking office," said the representative to the Revolutionary Guards in northwestern Zanjan province, cleric Hojjatoleslam Ali Maboudi, according to the Fars News Agency.
By "Zionist regime," he was referring to Israel -- Washington closest Middle East ally -- whose existence is not recognized by the Islamic Republic.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi told a weekly news conference there would be no talks between Iranian and American officials at a security conference in the southern German city of Munich this weekend. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
My Web
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
America's long, long Afghan war: Bernd Debusmann
Also on Reuters
Slideshow
Slideshow: Pittsburgh fans cheer the return of their team
Google quietly declares email war on Yahoo
Video
Video: Hurt python becomes family pet in India
More International News
Kyrgyzstan starts moves to close U.S. airbase
North Korea may test-fire missile toward Japan: reports
Iraq investigating serious vote fraud allegations
Afghanistan says foreign fighters coming from Iraq
Vatican demands Holocaust denier publicly recant
More International News...
Related News
Iran fails to issue visas for U.S. badminton players
4:13am EST
Iran's Khatami signals presidential plans
5:46am EST
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Obama to set executive pay limits
German pope becomes an embarrassment in homeland
Miley Cyrus' slant-eye pose slammed by Asian group
Google quietly declares email war on Yahoo
North Korea may test-fire missile toward Japan: reports
CORRECTED - CORRECTED-Japan sewage yields more gold than top mines
FACTBOX-Goldman Sachs alumni in the news
Kyrgyzstan starts moves to close U.S. airbase
Citi to deploy $36.5 billion, stick with Mets | Video
Chinese see funny side of financial crisis
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Toshiba targets iPhone with TG01
Obama nominee Daschle withdraws
Business Update: BP profits hit
A strategy in Progress
China's Wen unfazed by shoe throwing
Mideast envoy returns
CEOs feel "entitled"
Doctors to help stricken woman die
Iran launches satellite
Al Qaeda suspects seized
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
The Great Debate
World Affairs:
The Afghan narco-state
Bernd Debusmann
To understand why the war in Afghanistan, now in its eighth year, is not going well for the U.S., take a look at two statistics on corruption and drugs. Commentary
Reuters Deals
The global destination for corporate leaders, deal-makers and innovators
Knowledge to Act
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Interactive TV |
Labs |
Reuters in Second Life |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.