The U.N. nuclear chief said Thursday that Iran should fully disclose its nuclear programs at the same time that the U.S. starts a dialogue with Tehran without preconditions. Iran's foreign minister said that President Obama must declare how his policies would differ from those of former President Bush.
The maneuvering over a possible U.S.-Iranian dialogue came as Mohamed ElBaradei welcomed Obama's statements that the new U.S. administration was willing to talk to Iran after the Bush administration's refusal to deal with Tehran.
In an interview with Al-Arabiya news channel on Tuesday, Obama condemned Iran's threats to destroy Israel and its alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons, but added: "It is important for us to be willing to talk to Iran, to express very clearly where our differences are, but where there are potential avenues for progress."
"That is the way to go," ElBaradei said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. "It is long overdue."
"Iran should answer technical questions from the IAEA and the dialogue should start without preconditions," ElBaradei said in the presence of Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
ElBaradei, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency, went further than the U.N. Security Council _ where the U.S. has veto power. The council has demanded in several resolutions that Iran halt uranium enrichment as a condition for talks on its nuclear program.
Despite several questions, Mottaki refused to say whether his government would engage the Obama administration or answer all questions from the IAEA.
Instead, he said, Obama "should say which Bush policies he disagrees with," he should apologize for the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II, and his administration should stop talking to the world and "listen to what others are saying."
El Baradei and Mottaki spoke on a panel at the World Economic Forum entitled "The New U.S. Administration: Can it Meet the Expectations of the World?" The foreign ministers of Iraq and France, the prime minister of Kenya and the defense minister of Afghanistan also took part before a standing room audience of government and business leaders.
Iran insists it has a right to enrich uranium for nuclear energy under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and has shrugged off three rounds of U.N. sanctions. The U.S. and key European nations believe that Iran's ultimate goal in enriching uranium is to produce nuclear weapons, which Iran strongly denies.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said his government had tried and failed to open a dialogue with Iran, and he backed Obama's willingness to engage Tehran.
"He is a man of dialogue," Kouchner said of the new U.S. leader. "I believe, I know, I'm sure, he is a man of peace."
Washington is also at odds with Iran over its threats to destroy Israel as well as Tehran's support of the militant groups Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian territories. The U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with Iran after hard-line students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979.
Commentary in Iranian newspapers Wednesday reflected some doubt that the Obama administration's talk of change signaled anything more than a change in tactics in pursuit of the same objectives as Bush.
"I believe the United States of America should say why they need to change," Mottaki said.
At another session Thursday on Central Asia and the Caucasus, the Iranian foreign minister said the countries of the region are waiting to see how the changes are put into effect to determine if they are strategic, tactical or just rhetorical.
"We do believe that if the new administration of the United States, as President Obama has said, is going to change its policies, not in talking but in acts, then definitely it will find in the region a creative and cooperative reaction, including from Iran," Mottaki said.
At the panel focusing on the United States, the Iranian minister also said Obama's "promise of withdrawal from Iraq is a good one and he should extend it to Afghanistan."
Afghanistan's Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak disagreed, saying his country "needs engagement of regional powers as well as the world power" to fight terrorism.
He expressed hope that with Iraq assuming control of its own security, "as Obama promised in the election, Afghanistan will become a focus."
To critics who say Afghanistan is corrupt and the government is weak and should not be helped, Wardak said the government has taken steps to combat corruption in the last seven months. "I don't want anyone to use corruption and these other issues not to help us," he said.
U.S. officials have accused Iran of providing weapons to both Sunni and Shiite extremist groups in Iraq to attack U.S. and Iraqi government forces, a charge Iran denies.
Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the Iranians "have been helpful in trying to rein in the militias."
Iraq has urged Iran not to interfere in its internal affairs and Iran has recognized the current government, but that "doesn't mean relations are very smooth," he said. That's why Iraq "is very supportive of an Arab-Iranian dialogue to smooth this relationship," Zebari said.
