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Last update - 22:27 01/10/2009
Obama: U.S. patience with Iran not unlimited
By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent, and Reuters
Tags: Iran talks, Iran U.S. talks 

After a day of multilateral talks between world powers and Iran over the latter's contentious nuclear program, U.S. President Barack Obama warned on Thursday that American patience with the Islamic Republic was "not unlimited".

Iran must prove that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and not geared toward atomic weapons, said Obama, adding that the world powers had sent a "clear and unified message" to that effect.

"The Iranian government heard a clear and unified message from the international community in Geneva. Iran must demonstrate through concrete steps that it will live up to its responsibilities with respect to its nuclear program," he said.
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Obama called on Iran to allow access to turn "talk" into action" and open access to its recently disclosed nuclear facility within two weeks. "If Iran follows through with concrete steps, there is a path to a better relationship with the United States and the international community," he said.

"Now that Iran has agreed to open its newly disclosed nuclear enrichment
facility to international inspectors, it must grant unfettered access to those inspectors within two weeks," Obama said.

"We expect to see swift action. We're committed to serious ... engagement but we're not interested in talking for the sake of talking," Obama said.

"If Iran does not take steps in the near future to live up to its obligations, then the United States will not continue to negotiate indefinitely and we are prepared to move toward increased pressure," he said. "This is a constructive beginning but hard work lies ahead."

IAEA chief to visit Iran this weekend

The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, is expected to go to Iran this weekend to "work out the details" for inspection of the Islamic Republic's second nuclear facility, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday.

Earlier Iran agreed at talks with the six world powers to open its recently disclosed second enrichment site at Qom to supervision by the International Atomic Energy Agency in the next few weeks, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and U.S. officials said.

"I understand that Mohamed ElBaradei will be in Tehran this weekend to work out the details," the senior official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Iran and the powers have agreed to hold another round of talks on the Islamic Republic's contentious nuclear program before the end of October, Iranian state television reported on Thursday.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the six-power talks with Iran held in Geneva on nuclear issues a productive session that has
opened the door to a positive outcome.

Speaking to reporters at the State Department shortly after the Iran talks ended, Clinton cautioned that it was too soon to know whether Iran would respond with the concrete actions that she said the United States is anticipating.

U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed held a "significant conversation" on Thursday, an official attending Iran's talks with six world powers said.

The bilateral meeting, on the sidelines of talks to discuss Iran's nuclear program, is the most high-level U.S.-Iranian contact in three decades, since Washington severed relations with Tehran during a hostage crisis in the wake of Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Jalili, who is heading Iran's delegation to the multiparty nuclear, in Geneva expressed Thursday a willingness to discuss his government's nuclear program on condition that the overall issue of global nuclear proliferation be on the agenda, western sources said.

Jalili gave a "detailed explanation" of wide-ranging proposals Iran submitted to six world powers last month and "emphasised the necessity of complete global [nuclear] disarmament," state broadcaster IRIB reported.

Iran's proposed package touches on various international security and economic issues, but does not mention its own nuclear activities.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Thursday Iran has declared all its atomic sites to the UN nuclear watchdog, countering suspicions that it may have undeclared facilities.

"Whatever Iran has as nuclear sites has been announced to the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), and the only case that is under construction is Qom and we also announced that," Mottaki said through an interpreter.

EU: Iran nuclear program top priority

Earlier on Thursday, a spokeswoman for European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said talks between Iran and six world powers are proceeding in a "cordial and businesslike" atmosphere with the main focus on Iran's nuclear program.

"There is a good will of the international community to have a serious relationship with Iran," Cristina Gallach told reporters. "At the same time there are important clarifications to be obtained."

She said Iran's nuclear program was the most important aspect of the talks, which are being hosted by Switzerland at a villa in the Geneva countryside.

Iran's nuclear negotiator touched on the country's nuclear program in his opening statement at talks with six world powers in Geneva, a Western diplomat close to the meeting said Thursday.

He said that Jalili mentioned Tehran's disputed nuclear program "in a general way" in his opening statement, even though Jalili and other Iranian officials had said they would not be willing to discuss Tehran's "nuclear rights" at the one-day talks in Geneva.

"The EU3 (Britain, France and Germany) restated that the July 2008 offer is still on the table," the diplomat, who was present at the talks, said on condition of anonymity.

American sources said Wednesday that the talks will fail if Iran maintains its refusal for meaningful dialogue of the nuclear issue. While some officials have said they are coming to the table with a "positive attitude," others have expressed an unwillingness to discuss the nuclear program.

Talks have been held between Iran and the United States in the past on a variety of issues, including Afghanistan and Iraq, but this is the first time in many years delegates of the two countries will sit at a table to discuss shared concerns, leading with the question of Iranian nuclear capability.

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