Rice Denies U.S. is Leading Nuclear Talks With Tehran

Steven R. Weisman, The New York Times:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice distanced the Bush administration on Thursday from a new proposal to resolve the Iranian nuclear dispute, describing the United States as intently interested in the problem but not an author of the proposed solution.

Responding to an article on Thursday in The New York Times that reported that the United States and three European allies had approved a new offer to be made to Iran, Ms. Rice emphasized that any such proposal did not come from Washington but from its European partners, to whom the United States has deferred in the negotiations.

"We are not parties to these negotiations," she said, although she added that the United States was in "constant contact" on the issue with Britain, France and Germany.

"There is no U.S.-European proposal to the Iranians," Ms. Rice said. "I want to say that categorically. There isn't and there won't be." She said the Europeans were "keeping us apprised of their thinking about the future of their negotiations with the Iranians." READ MORE

The article quoted American and European officials as describing a proposal that would allow Iran to continue limited nuclear work, but move enrichment of uranium - the key to making fuel for reactors or weapons - to Russia.

Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful use only, and argues that it has a right to enrich its own uranium. The Bush administration, however, maintains that Iran has conducted secret weapons research.

Ms. Rice said she had not urged that Iran be given a deadline for responding before the International Atomic Energy Agency next meets on Nov. 24, as some officials asserted after she met Tuesday with the agency's director general, Mohamed ElBaradei.

"I don't talk about deadlines," she told reporters traveling with her to the Middle East and Asia. "I believe that is not the way to conduct diplomacy."

She said the United States and the European countries believed they had a majority of votes at the atomic energy agency to refer the issue to the United Nations Security Council if Iran did not shift its course, but that such a vote would not necessarily come at the next meeting. That would come "at a time of our choosing," Ms. Rice said.

David E. Sanger contributed reporting from Washington for this article.