Iran and U.S. said to have been holding secret talks for 5 years
The Independent says non-government officials have met for discussion on range of issues including nukes.
By Haaretz Staff Tags: Iran US Iran nuclear
The United States and Iran have been holding secret talks over the last five years regarding Tehran's contentious nuclear program, according to a report released Monday by Britain's The Independent.
The discussions also related to the general ties between the two countries, said the report.
A former U.S. diplomat involved in the discussions, Thomas Pickering, told The Independent that a team of experts had been meeting with Iranian academics and policy advisers, though said the talks had never been held on U.S. or Iranian soil.
According to the report, the discussion team was established by the pro-UN Association of the U.S.A., and its work facilitated by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Pickering said that the nuclear issue was a "prominent" part of discussions, though added: "We discussed what's going on domestically in both countries" as well as a range of issues affecting the relations of the two enemy states.
None of the delegates to the discussions sit at the government level, Pickering told The Independent, but were keeping higher officials "informed" of the talks.
Pickering told the newspaper that the Bush administration "did not discourage us" from engaging in the discussions.
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