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Bekijk Volledige Versie : Gerucht: Iran, VS praten over het aanhalen van diplomatieke banden



lennart
12-05-03, 15:27
Report: US, Iran in secret talks to resume diplomatic relations; Tehran denies
12-05-2003, 11:26

The Iranian government is debating re-establishing diplomatic relations with the United States for the first time in 23 years and is holding secret talks with U.S. diplomats in Geneva on a range of issues, including the shape of a new government in Iraq, U.S. and Iranian diplomats said, according to The USA Today on Monday.

The Geneva discussions, due to resume next week, are headed on the U.S. side by Zalmay Khalilzad, President Bush's special envoy to Iraq and Afghanistan, the report said. A representative of the United Nations opens the talks but does not always stay, U.S. officials said. There have been three meetings this year, the most recent on May 3.

Secretary of State Colin Powell confirmed the dialogue with Iran but said restoration of formal relations was not on the horizon. "The issue of diplomatic relations is not on the table right now for either side," Powell said. "But in terms of communicating with the Iranians, we have such ways, and we use them on a regular basis."

"The debate is taking place both in Iran and the United States," said an Iranian diplomat who asked not to be named. "We are ready to discuss re-establishing relations on the basis of mutual respect."

On its part, Iran dismissed reports on Monday that it was discussing restoring diplomatic relations with the United States, but stopped short of denying that talks of some kind had taken place with the Americans.

"The behaviour adopted by the Americans shows that they do not observe equality and mutual respect," state radio quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi as saying on Monday. "Therefore, there have been no negotiations for mutual relations and restoring ties with America," he said. (Albawaba.com)
http://www.albawaba.com/news/index.php3?sid=249182&lang=e&dir=news

Victory
12-05-03, 16:18
No talks with US on mutual relations

http://www.iribnews.com/newspic/03/03/38/asefi1-jam.jpg

5:48:29 PM
Tehran, May 12 - Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi here on Monday said that the US had established certain contacts with Iran on the Afghanistan issue.

Asefi, speaking at his weekly press conference, said the US and Iranian officials had exchanged viewpoints on the Afghan issue through the Swiss embassy in Tehran, but rejected speculations that the talks had also included mutual relations.

"There had been no reference to mutual relations in the talks, and no debate was held on the issue," he said.

Asefi said Iran expects the US to follow the principle of "mutual respect" toward the Islamic Republic by refraining from interfering in Iran's internal affairs, accepting the principle of equality, and living up to the requirements of mutual respect.

"However, the US officials have shown over the past months that they are not committed to pursuing mutual respect in dealing with Iran and have no belief in the principle," he said.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Asefi said the issue of US talks with the terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) was a serious issue.

"We have through informed the US through various channels that there is no good or bad terrorist," he said.

"The MKO is considered as a group that served the interests of Saddam Hussein, and the Iraqi people have a bitter memory of them."

lennart
12-05-03, 16:19
Mjah, officieele overheidsberichten geloof ik natuurlijk niet.

Victory
14-05-03, 00:12
No talks with US to resume ties


5:58:28 PM
Tehran, May 13 - Iran on Tuesday strongly rejected media reports that Tehran and washington were in secret talks to re-establish diplomatic ties.

Section of media on Monday quoted an unnamed Iranian diplomat as having told USA today that both sides are floating the idea of re-establishing ties.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said the report was 'baseless'. "No negotiation has been held among officials of the two countries on (resuming) relations and the Islamic Republic of Iran seriously believes that negotiations will be useful only if they are based on mutual respect.

"And there is no such condition at present, given the American government's approach," Asefi added.

Victory
14-05-03, 00:21
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3023225.stm

Iranian leader angry at US talks


http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39211000/jpg/_39211731_khameneiap203body.jpg
Ayatollah Khamenei and his clique of clerics dominate Iran



Resuming ties with the United States would be tantamount to surrender, Iran's supreme leader has said.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also accused the Americans of preparing the ground for an invasion of the hardline Islamic state.

His uncompromising comments came after it emerged that American and Iranian officials have been holding talks in an attempt to reduce tensions between the two nations.

The US broke off diplomatic relations following Iran's Islamic revolution in 1979, and President George W Bush has described the country as part of an "axis of evil" because of its nuclear ambitions and support for militant groups in the region.

The Americans know very well that any adventures in Iran will fail
Ayatollah Khamenei
Iran is now bordered by two countries whose anti-US governments have been toppled by American military intervention - Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ayatollah Khamenei heads a grouping of conservative clerics who dominate Iran, despite the existence of an elected president and parliament dominated by reformists.

A majority of the members of the 290-seat Iranian parliament recently signed an open letter calling for normal relations between Iran and the outside world, including the US.

US 'adventurous'

But in a speech to thousands of students in the capital Tehran, the ayatollah issued what appeared to be a warning to reformist elements within the country.

"Some are prescribing surrender to the US adventurers, but surrender to the enemy is no remedy," the state news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.

"To go to the enemy is not the solution, since that would do nothing but to reinforce his morale, and make him more and more adventurous.

"To question the effectiveness of Iran's system, as well as our values and revolutionary beliefs, serves the American interests.

"Unfortunately certain elements, consciously and unconsciously, are helping the enemy to create the conditions for a (US) military or partial military action."

'Many barriers'

According to American diplomats, the meetings in Geneva have focused on a wide range of issues including the future of Afghanistan and the setting up of a government for post-war Iraq.

Iran's support for militant Islamic groups in the Middle East and its alleged nuclear weapons programme may also have been included on the agenda.

The US military's decision at the weekend to disarm a heavily armed Iraq-based Iranian opposition group, the People's Mujahedeen, is seen as a gesture towards Tehran.

The Americans, in turn, have reportedly asked the Iranians to hand over suspected members of al-Qaeda who might have fled to Iran from northern Iraq during the war in Iraq.

President Bush's special envoy to Iraq and Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, has apparently represented the US in the continuing meetings.

But the president's National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, insists that they are not a step towards restoring diplomatic relations.

In an interview with the Reuters news agency, she said there were many barriers to broad diplomatic ties, including what she described as Iran's support for terrorism.

She also reiterated the view of the Bush administration that Iran was failing to comply with a nuclear non-proliferation treaty, and should be cited for non-compliance by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Iran says its nuclear programme exists for the production of nuclear energy alone.

The US broke off relations with Iran in 1980 after radical students seized its embassy in Tehran following the Iranian revolution.

More than 50 Americans were held hostage in Tehran for 444 days.

Victory
14-05-03, 00:22
Imam Khamenei(HA) rejects resumption of US ties
Date: Tuesday, May 13 @ 18:33:32 BST

Tehran, Islamic Iran, May 13, 2003 - The Leader of the Muslim Ummah, Imam Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei(HA) on Monday rejected resumption of ties with US, describing the superpower as yet hostile towards Iran.

Addressing Shahic Beheshti University students, the leader alluded to the US strategy to push for the unipolar world and take advantage of monopolizing the power, the Supreme Leader said that the Middle East states including Iran are the target of Washin gton's greed.

The Supreme Leader(HA) underscored Iran's geopolitical situation and the underground wealth as the reasons for being put on the agenda of the US greed.

On the other dimension of the US hostility with the Islamic Republic, the Supreme Leader(HA) said that the US aims to undermine the independence of the country and the spirit of justice seeking and the national resolve against dictatorship.

On the record of the US hostility with Iran, Imam Khamenei(HA) said that since 10 years ago, the United States has changed the "theoretical challenge" against the religious beliefs of the Iranian nation to a "practical challenge" in line with its stra tegic goals of securing financial benefits.

The Supreme Leader(HA) said that the United States has embarked on a plan to weaken the strong link between the people and the government, on one hand, and anti-Iran propaganda, on the other, to prepare the world public opinion for a military or semi-milit ary action against Iran.

The Supreme leader(HA) said that the US scenario against Iran will not succeed, because of the difference in nature of the Iranian and the Iraqi governments.

"Despite some dissatisfaction from certain parts of the government system, the people have trust in the officials and the young Iranians are ready to defend the country," the Supreme Leader(HA) said.

The Supreme Leader(HA) covertly criticized the reformist lawmakers for calling to turn the "US threat" to "an opportunity" through restoring relations with Washington.

Imam Khamenei(HA) said that restoring relations with Washington is a surrender to the enemy.