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U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. (AP) Last update - 23:26 23/01/2008 Rice offers normal relations to Iran if it gives up nuclear work By News agencies Tags: Ahmadinejad, nuclear, Iran U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday she believed the nuclear stand-off with Iran could be resolved diplomatically, and offered the prospect of normal ties with Tehran if it gave up controversial nuclear work. Just one day after getting agreement on a draft UN Security Council resolution against Tehran, Rice held out the incentive of a "more normal relationship" and expanded trade if Iran gave up its nuclear enrichment work. "Ultimately, though, we believe that we can resolve this problem through diplomacy," Rice said in her speech to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. Advertisement "If Iran would suspend its uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities - which is an international demand, not just an American one - then we could begin negotiations, and we could work over time to build a new, more normal relationship," she said. Rice said this new relationship could be defined not by fear and mistrust but growing cooperation, expanding trade and the peaceful resolution of differences. A similar offer was made in 2006 and Rice has often said she would be prepared to meet any time, any place with the Iranians to discuss any subject as long as they gave up nuclear work, which the West believes is aimed at building an atomic bomb. Iran says it is for peaceful power generation. In a conciliatory note after weeks of anti-Iranian rhetoric by the Bush administration, Rice said the United States had no desire for Iran to be a "permanent enemy." "Iranians are a proud people with a great culture, and we respect the contributions they have made to world civilization," she said. But she said Washington had real differences with Iran's government, referring to what the U.S. sees as Tehran's pursuit of a nuclear weapon, support for terrorism and destabilizing policies in Iraq. Rice said that agreement reached between foreign ministers of major powers in Berlin on Tuesday for a third sanctions resolution showed the world remained united over not wanting Iran to become a nuclear weapons power. "We will continue to hold Iran to its international obligations," said Rice. In terms of improving relations with Iran, Rice cited the case of former foe Libya. "As Libya has chosen to reject terrorism, to renounce its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, and to rejoin the international community, the United States has reached out, and today, though we still have our differences, we have nothing to fear from each other," she said. She also referred to improving ties with North Korea, which is currently disabling its Yongbyon nuclear facility, but failed to meet a year-end deadline to give a full accounting of its nuclear activities. "Still, we continue to believe that we can use the Six Party Talks for even larger purposes - to finally end the conflict on the Korean Peninsula," she said, referring to the six nations handling the North Korean nuclear dossier. Iranian leaders vow to follow nuclear path despite sanctions Iranian leaders vowed on Wednesday to press on with Tehran's disputed nuclear work regardless of any new UN sanctions, one day after world powers agreed the outline of a new resolution. "The Iranian nation has chosen its path and will continue with it," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by the student news agency ISNA. "Such illegal behavior [by Western powers] ... will not divert the Iranian nation from its path." World powers agreed on Tuesday on the outline of a third sanctions resolution against Iran, but diplomats said the draft did not contain the punitive economic measures that Washington had been pushing for. Ahmadinejad called on major powers to avoid repeating past "mistakes." "We advise them not to repeat their previous mistakes ... They cannot make up for the past with a new mistake," the official IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying. The West has faced a diplomatic showdown with Iran since 2002 and the UN Security Council has already imposed two sets of sanctions, in December 2006 and March 2007. Washington has spearheaded a drive for new sanctions and had been pushing for a new resolution to impose a ban on business with leading Iranian state banks. But that drive appears to have failed. Russia and China, both commercial partners of Iran, have hardened their opposition to tough sanctions since a U.S. intelligence report last month said Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003. Russian FM Sergei Lavrov: New draft resolution not tough German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in Berlin on Tuesday after a nearly two-hour meeting with his counterparts from Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, that the new draft of a sanctions resolution would be presented to the UN Security Council in the coming weeks. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the new draft resolution was not tough or punitive and "welcomes the progress made between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) ..." "The measures in this draft do not have a tough sanctioning character," Lavrov said. He said the new draft resolution would "call on countries to be alert in their transport relations with Iran so that those relations are not used to transport (potentially dangerous) materials." His remarks suggested the United States failed to win agreement in Berlin on punitive economic sanctions against Iran. Iran's top nuclear negotiator said Tehran had exceeded its international obligations on its nuclear dossier. "Iran has gone beyond its obligations," Saeed Jalili told a committee of the European Parliament during a visit to Brussels. He was expected to meet European Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana in the Belgian capital later on Wednesday. "Everyone acknowledges those activities are peaceful," Jalili, referring to Iran's nuclear activities. He reiterated Tehran's belief that Iran had a right to enrich uranium. IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei won agreement from Iran this month to answer remaining questions about its past covert nuclear work within four weeks. Western diplomats say expectations are low that leaders in Tehran will be forthcoming, but Iran says it has accelerated its cooperation with the IAEA since then. Ahmadinejad said Iran had "good" cooperation with the agency. On Wednesday, diplomats familiar with IAEA-Iran relations said that Iran has allowed top UN nuclear monitors to visit an advanced centrifuge development site for the first time in a gesture of transparency about its disputed atomic drive. Iran's foreign minister said on Wednesday Tehran believes progress in talks with the IAEA will "destroy" an agreement between world powers on new UN sanctions. "We believe that the evolution of the process (with the IAEA) will destroy that agreement," Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters in Lison when asked about an agreement on further sanctions against Iran agreed this week. "We should focus on our talks with the IAEA," Mottaki said. Related articles: World powers agree to new sanctions on Iran over nuclear program Haaretz TV: News/ Ahmadinejad: Missile tested by IDF won't save Israel from collapse FM heads to Moscow for talks on Iran, Middle East peace talks Bookmark to del.icio.us   The father of the victim Father of terror victim slams Olmert for letting PA try the killers. And you're out German hip-hop artist thrown off reality show over Hitler salute.   1.   Just A Couple of Questions 20:33  |  Cool B 23/01/08   2.   wake up Cool B 21:03  |  Mitch Charles 23/01/08   3.   They have the absolute right 21:34  |  Espart 23/01/08   4.   Atomic Ayatollahs. 22:08  |  Charles Smyth 23/01/08   5.   No surprise.. they are currently winning the WAR ON TERROR 22:36  |  Avi 23/01/08   6.   Iran is a sovereing country and has the right to develop nukes,if 22:40  |  lakshmi 23/01/08   7.   This isn`t about Iran having nuclear power 22:56  |  Paul Wood 23/01/08   8.   To answer #1 23:36  |  Avi 23/01/08   9.   US is determined first all to destabilize iran 23:50  |  bozhidar balkas 23/01/08   10.   Latest sanctions actually locks the US out of hurting Iran 23:50  |  Pablo B 23/01/08   11.   Rice fallacious ideas 23:50  |  Brod 23/01/08   12.   Rice offers normal relations to Iran if it gives up nuclear work 23:55  |  Davidofgoliath 23/01/08   13.   Iran already suspended enrichment once. US still refused to talk 00:08  |  Pablo B 24/01/08   14.   If I were Iran... 00:28  |  yezmar 24/01/08   15.   Eliminate Israel Nukes 00:28  |  JJ 24/01/08   16.   intimate relations might work better 01:17  |  Blandow 24/01/08   17.   Relations Iran 01:27  |  Paul 24/01/08   18.   to Haaretz: YOU ARE MISLEADING ONLY NAIVE READERS 01:38  |  nobodysacred 24/01/08   19.   now is israel`s turn 01:47  |  master 24/01/08   20.   Iran should give her the finger. 02:57  |  Deborah 24/01/08

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