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Iran rejects U.S. preconditions to direct negotiations, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Dec. 24. Mottaki’s announcement came in response to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s Dec. 21 declaration that the United States is open to talking to Iran but would first have to see a halt to Iran’s uranium enrichment program, which could include “even a short suspension.”
While Iran has been emboldened to ignore U.S. overtures of late, the betterment of the security situation in Baghdad could depend on the renewal of U.S.-Iranian negotiations.
Nullifying the threat of Iran’s nuclear weapons program, the U.S. National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) was largely a policy move by Washington meant to set the stage for serious negotiations with Iran. After the NIE release, however, Russia delivered nuclear fuel to Iran’s Bushehr plant, leading the Iranians to act even more belligerent on all things nuclear, with a new announcement each week on how enrichment will continue at unprecedented rates, how 19 additional nuclear power plants will be built and how there is no current need for talks with Washington.
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