US, Iran Hold Rare Bilateral Meeting

[Purveyor]

Source: Voice of America

01 October 2009

U.S. and Iranian diplomats have held a rare bilateral meeting, on the sidelines of talks in Geneva about Iran's nuclear program.

A U.S. spokesman says Under Secretary of State William Burns met Thursday with top Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.

The United States and Iran do not have diplomatic relations, and no details of the meeting were made public.

Iranian officials have been holding multilateral talks with diplomats from the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. Western nations are concerned that Iran is trying to make a nuclear weapon, and hope the talks will lead to a halt in its nuclear activities.

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A top Israeli official dismissed the talks as futile. Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom told reporters in Jerusalem the discussions are a "waste of time." .


Read more: http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-10-01-voa11.cfm

[bemildred]

1. US and Iran meet at nuclear talks

Undersecretary of State William Burns and Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, held what were described as "significant" talks in Geneva.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany, want Iran to halt its enrichment activities.

The talks ended with an agreement to meet again in October, reports say.

Tehran insists it has the right to develop nuclear energy, but the revelation of a second uranium-enrichment facility last week has raised fears that it is trying to develop nuclear weapons.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8284360.stm

[steven johnson]

2. Up until now Iran has blown Obama off when it came to talks

We severed relations with Iran 30 years ago and it seems that it hasn't done us much good. Possibly there might be some issues we could find common ground with them to decrease the hostility in the atmosphere.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/01/AR2009100101294.html