U.S. says offer to talk with Iran is not open-ended
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that Iran's intentions were unclear following last month's election and that the U.S. offer of talks with Tehran over its nuclear program was not open-ended.
The top U.S. diplomat deplored Iran's "repressive" actions against protesters after the election and said neither she nor President Barack Obama were under any illusions that talks with Tehran would guarantee success.
"We have made it clear that there is a choice for the Iranian government to make and we will wait to see how they decide," she said in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations think tank.
"The prospects have certainly shifted in the weeks following the election," said Clinton. "We have made it very clear this is not open-ended. This is not a door that stays open no matter what happens," she added.
Clinton's speech, on the eve of a trip to India and Thailand, was aimed at raising her public profile while outlining policy priorities that include talking to enemies such as Iran.
Recovering from elbow surgery after a fall last month, Clinton has been largely out of the limelight in recent weeks, canceling planned travel to Europe and leaving much of the diplomacy to her deputies and special envoys.
The former Bush administration refused to engage Iran directly until it had met certain preconditions, including suspending uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for nuclear power plants or atomic weapons.
But Obama, who took over in January, says that approach failed and Clinton said it was a mistake.
"We know that refusing to deal with the Islamic Republic has not succeeded in altering the Iranian march toward a nuclear weapon, reducing Iranian support for terror, or improving Iran's treatment of its citizens," said Clinton.
NO RESPONSE YET
Despite the policy shift, Iran has not responded to Obama's overtures and those from other countries seeking to persuade Tehran to give up sensitive nuclear work the West believes is aimed at building a bomb and Iran says is to generate power.
Clinton said the United States watched last month's election in Iran with great admiration but was "appalled" by the way the government crushed demonstrations by people who disputed the result.
Obama said last week Iran had until September -- the time of the annual U.N. General Assembly -- to accept negotiations over its nuclear ambitions or face the consequences.
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy was more pointed, saying Iran risked tougher sanctions if it did not agree to talks. However, China and Russia -- permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- could resist more punitive steps.
Diplomats suspect Iran is buying time by stalling over getting into any substantive talks. Iran's foreign minister said last weekend that Tehran was preparing a new package of "political, security and international" issues to put to the West but offered no details.
Outlining other foreign policy priorities, Clinton said the international agenda was "unforgiving", with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and conflict in the Middle East, as well as the threat of violent extremism and nuclear proliferation.
Clinton said she planned to visit Pakistan in the autumn, saying the U.S. goal of defeating al Qaeda and its Taliban allies required working with Pakistan.
She reiterated the U.S. willingness to deal with members of the Taliban who renounced al Qaeda, laid down their arms and were willing to participate in a democratic Afghanistan.
(Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by David Storey)
