Secretary Rice - On-the-Record Briefing to Press in London

U.S. Department of State, The Bureau of Public Affairs [Excerpt on Iran]:

Secretary Condoleezza Rice
London, United Kingdom
March 1, 2005

QUESTION: Thank you very much. On the subject of Iran, Madame Secretary. Andrea Mitchell from NBC News.

With the Secretary General, or the representative, rather, of the EU, Mr. Solana, told us that there were good vibrations or are good vibrations coming from Washington on the subject of Iran, when do you think you might have some proposal showing some greater flexibility, some response to what happened last week? And do you think that that would be, in fact, in the next few weeks, before the next round of talks?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I can't put any timetable on the considerations that the President and his advisors have undertaken. We did find the discussions when the President was here in Europe to be very fruitful. We found, as the President said in each of this press conferences, that there was unity of message that Iran must not have a nuclear weapon and that they must not use civilian nuclear activities to cover activities that might lead to a nuclear weapon. There seemed to be a firmness about that.

But I think we still need to explore, we need to discuss and see how we can come further together, perhaps even, on support for the EU discussions with the Iranians. But let's put the onus here where it belongs. The onus is not on the European Union 3; it's not on the United States. It is on the Iranians to take the opportunity that is being given to them by the European Union to demonstrate that they're prepared to live up to their international obligations in a way that is verifiable and that gives confidence to the international community that they are not going to try to build a nuclear weapon.

So we are in discussions. We will continue to have discussions. I can't give you a timetable. But I can say that we need to remember that the Iranians are the ones who are isolated. They need to cooperate better with the IAEA. They need to make certain that they are living up to their obligations. And thus far they have not indicated that they are prepared to do that.

QUESTION: Will they have to show something to you before you would consider WTO membership or could there be some carrots that would precede some actions from Iran?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I think what we need to do is we -- these are questions that are being considered, but what we need to do at this point is to have a very strong message to the Iranians that there is a path that has been laid out for them on the nuclear matter by the European 3 and they ought to take the opportunity that is being given to them.

Now, it has to be in a way that is verifiable. It has to be in a way that lends confidence to the international community that the Iranians are actually going to live up to their obligations. The Iranians have not yet demonstrated that, and of course there other steps that the international community can take if Iran is not prepared to do that, including referral to the Security Council, which we have always thought is eventually going to have to be the case if Iran is not prepared to do what it needs to do.

I might just mention, Andrea, that in the discussions the nuclear issue gets all of the -- or in the commentary the nuclear issue gets all of the discussion, but let's remember too that we have been here in London talking about peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, listening to President Mahmoud Abbas talk about taking difficult decisions within the Palestinian territories to try to provide a secure environment both for the Palestinians and for Israelis, talking about Israeli obligations to support a democratic Palestinian state; and we have Iran refusing to recognize the existence of Israel, refusing to support the peace process, and indeed supporting and encouraging rejectionist groups who are against the peace process.

So that is an issue with Iran for the entire international community, as is for those of us who happen to live on the right side of the democratic divide, the side which -- where we enjoy those freedoms, concern about the human rights record of Iran and concern about Iran's unelected few who continue to frustrate the will of their people for a more democratic future. ...

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, Barbara Slavin of USA Today. I wanted to go back to the Iran question just a little bit. The Iranians have told the Europeans that they will be reevaluating their talks with them in March and that they do want to see some sort of incentive. And Javier Solana said in response to a question that he does expect to hear back from the United States within a couple of weeks. That is what he said.

So I know you said there was no deadline, but is it realistic to assume that there will be some sort of decision on, say, WTO applications by Iran by the end of this month?

Thank you.

SECRETARY RICE: Well, Barbara, let me just again state what it is we're trying to do, what the President is considering. What the President is considering is how can he -- given what he heard in Europe, how can he support the Europeans in the effort that they are making to get the Iranians to sign onto a program of cessation ultimately, suspension for the time being, of their activities, the enrichment activities. Because there is no confidence in many quarters now of the international community that the Iranians are not trying, under cover of civilian nuclear power, to build a nuclear weapon. That's what this is about.

So I think we can concentrate too much on this incentive or that incentive. Let's remember what it is we're trying to do. The President is going to consider it. He is talking to his advisors. There is no deadline, but obviously we will try to do it as soon as we can and in a timely fashion to try to help in any way that we can with what the Europeans are trying to do. ...