US calls for talks with Iran

By Xinhua

Washington : The US has called for talks with Iran as former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was elected as the new chief of the country’s powerful Assembly of Experts.


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“We would hope that reasonable individuals in Iran would see the positive opportunity given to it by the international community to enter negotiations and be able to achieve a peaceful nuclear programme while still reassuring everyone else that it is not simply a cover for building a nuclear weapon,” State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.

“I’d like to believe that there are individuals in the Iranian leadership that would want to take what is in effect a rather unique and important opportunity, to allow Iran to engage with the rest of the international community,” Casey said.

Rafsanjani is considered a moderate leader compared to current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The US and Iran have held two rounds of ambassador-level talks on Iraqi security since May 28.

US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, who had talks with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Kazemi Qomi in July, described them as “difficult discussions”.

The US has accused Iran of fuelling violence in Iraq and supporting militants there. But Tehran has always denied the allegations.

Washington has no diplomatic relations with Tehran since April 1980, five months after Iranian students occupied the American embassy in Tehran. Fifty-two Americans were held hostage for 444 days.

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