| Munich 1938 |
(Reuters) - The United States is ready to hold direct talks
with Iran if
it is serious about negotiations, Vice President Joe Biden said on Saturday,
backing bilateral contacts that many see as crucial to easing an international
dispute over Tehran's nuclear program.
Speaking at a
security conference in Munich, Biden said Iran - which says it is enriching uranium
for peaceful energy only - now faced "the most robust sanctions in
history" meant to ensure it does not use its program to develop nuclear
weapons.
"But we have also made clear
that Iran's leaders need not sentence their people to economic deprivation and
international isolation," Biden said. "There is still time, there is
still space for diplomacy backed by pressure to succeed. The ball is in the government
of Iran's court."
To date, fitful talks on Iran's
nuclear program have been between Tehran and the EU's top diplomat representing
six world powers including Washington. But analysts have suggested that with
his re-election behind him, President Barack Obama might have more leeway to take on
direct negotiations with Iran.
That makes the year ahead
critical for chances of overcoming a stand-off which, if left to fester
further, could see Iran approach a nuclear weapons capability and possibly
provoking military action by Israel that could inflame the Middle East.
Progress on Iran would also help
ease regional tensions as the United States prepares to pull most combat troops
out of Iran's neighbor Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
Asked whether Washington might consider direct talks with Iran to smooth
the process, Biden said, "When the Iranian leadership, Supreme Leader
(Ayatollah Ali Khamenei), is serious.
"We have made it clear at
the outset that we would be prepared to meet bilaterally with the Iranian
leadership, we would not make it a secret that we were doing that, we would let
our partners know if that occasion presented itself.
"That offer stands, but it
must be real and tangible and there has to be an agenda that they are prepared
to speak to. We are not just prepared to do it for the exercise."
Negotiations with Iran have so
far been overseen by European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on
behalf of France,
Britain, Germany, China, Russia and the United States. But they have
made scant headway, raising fears Iran is simply playing for time while it
develops its nuclear know-how.
Ashton has asked Iran to hold a
round of talks this month and on Friday called on Tehran to abandon plans to
install and operate advanced centrifuges that would speed up its ability to
enrich uranium - potentially making it easier for it to produce the highly
enriched uranium needed for nuclear weapons.
Many believe no deal is possible
without a U.S.-Iranian thaw, requiring direct talks addressing myriad sources
of mutual mistrust and hostility lingering since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution
and the hostage crisis at the U.S. embassy in Tehran.
Iran has avoided direct, public
talks with the United States, though some suggest Tehran would eventually
welcome an opportunity to end its international isolation.
"DECISIVE YEAR ON IRAN"
With Iran holding its own
presidential elections in June, hopes of progress before then are limited.
The United States and its allies,
however, do not have an indefinite amount of time to negotiate. Notwithstanding
the current stalemate, Iran's nuclear program is advancing and an international
consensus on sanctions may be hard to maintain.
Israel, which
describes the prospect of Iran being able to weaponise enriched uranium as an
existential threat, has made clear it would be ready to bomb the nuclear sites
of its arch-enemy to prevent that outcome. The United States has also said it
would not rule out the use of military force.
Speaking at the Munich
conference, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said that "2013 is
the decisive year on Iran, especially for political reasons.
"We had elections in the
United States and Israel, we will have elections in June in Iran; we see
increasing capabilities especially with the issue of enrichment - let us be
very frank, we did not have progress in the last 12 months, so it is obvious
that we have to use this year.."
Russia, which has been impatient with decades
of U.S. hostility to Tehran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution but backed U.N.
Security Council sanctions since 2006, repeated on Saturday the need to find a
diplomatic solution.
"Iran must know the overall
game plan, it must see what is in it for it in this process. We need to
convince Iran that this is not about regime change ... this mistrust must be
overcome," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the conference.
That comment was echoed by
Westerwelle.
"If we want to reach this
goal, it would be wrong to discuss all these military options and
possibilities. It is now important to focus our whole attention, all our effort
for a diplomatic and political solution."
This would have to include a
relief from sanctions as well as recognition of Iran's right to enrich uranium
to the lower levels needed for civilian nuclear fuel, security analysts say.
(Additional reporting by
Alexandra Hudson in Munich; Editing by Mark Heinrich)