Kerry Says Spurning Iran Would Be Diplomatic Malpractice

[Purveyor]

Failing to test Iran’s sincerity in offering to negotiate a deal on its nuclear program would be “diplomatic malpractice,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said.

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, speaking at a joint news conference with Kerry in Tokyo today, also defended the U.S. willingness to talk to the new Iranian government, saying that “engagement is not appeasement, it is not surrender.”

The comments from the top U.S. diplomat and Pentagon chief were the first by senior Obama administration officials since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the world not to trust Iran in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly this week.

Western diplomats expressed optimism last week at the UN after agreeing to resume stalled international nuclear talks with Iran on Oct. 15-16 in Geneva. Iran’s new President Hassan Rouhani and President Barack Obama had a 15-minute telephone conversation at the Iranian’s behest -- the highest-level encounter between the two governments since Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.

Rouhani disavowed any interest in nuclear weapons at the UN and said Iran wants to swiftly calm international concerns over its nuclear program, while retaining the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-03/kerry-says-spurning-iran-would-be-diplomatic-malpractice.html

[alsame]

1. In other words,

STFU Bibi.