US diplomat to talk nukes with Iran

In a break with past Bush administration policy, a top US diplomat will for the first time join colleagues from other world powers at a meeting with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, The Associated Press has learned.

William Burns, America's third highest-ranking diplomat, will attend talks with the Iranian envoy, Saeed Jalili, in Switzerland on Saturday aimed at persuading Iran to halt activities that could lead to the development of atomic weapons, a senior US official told the AP on Tuesday.

Official contacts between Iran and the United States are extremely rare and although Washington is part of a six-nation effort to get Iran to stop enriching and reprocessing uranium, the administration has shunned contacts with Tehran on the matter.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of a formal announcement of Burns' plans expected on Wednesday, acknowledged a shift in the administration's approach but stressed that Burns would not meet Jalili separately and would not negotiate with him.

Heightened tensions

"This is a one-time event and he will be there to listen, not negotiate," the official said.

US contact with Iran has recently been limited only to discussions about the security situation in Iraq, where Washington accuses Iran of supporting insurgents. The two countries have not had diplomatic relations since the hostage crisis at the US Embassy in Tehran after the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran.

Saturday's meeting comes at a time of acutely heightened tensions between the United States and Iran, particularly after Iranian missile tests last week prompted President Bush's top aides to warn that the United States would defend its friends and interests in the Middle East.

The gathering in Geneva will be led by European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who is seeking a definitive answer from the Iranians to an offer of incentives that the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany presented last month.

The package of incentives was accompanied by a letter from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the foreign ministers of the other five countries and sets out a scenario in which Iran would get a temporary reprieve from economic and financial sanctions in exchange for freezing its enrichment activities.

Preliminary negotiations over a permanent halt could then begin, although the United States would not join them until after Iran agrees to fully suspend uranium enrichment, which can produce the fuel needed to make nuclear bombs.

The senior US official said Burns would be at the meeting with Jalili to demonstrate the unity of the countries making the offer of incentives but also to reinforce Rice's signature on the letter from the foreign ministers.

But Burns will also "reiterate that our terms for negotiations remain the same: Iran must suspend its enrichment and reprocessing activities," the official said.

Iran has responded to the offer through the European Union but has indicated it has no plans to stop enriching uranium - the key demand. But there are hopes that Iran may refine its response at Saturday's meeting.

Iran says its nuclear program is purely energy-related, but the United States accuses it of trying to develop atomic arms.

On Monday, hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he will not accept any conditions on his country's disputed nuclear program during the weekend talks. He said the talks will focus instead on "common" points.

At the same time, though, he said he would welcome direct, bilateral talks with the US if both parties are on "equal footing" and told state television such talks could happen "in the near future."

He did not elaborate nor say whether any definite plans were under way.