Thought Theater

Ahmadinejad: Iran Ready For Nuclear Talks genre: Just Jihad & Polispeak

The President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, announced that his country was prepared to discuss concerns about the country's nuclear program. Read the full article here.

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday that Iran was ready to discuss “mutual concerns" over his country’s nuclear program, but he refused to first suspend uranium enrichment.

His comments came a day after world powers backed off a demand that Iran commit to a prolonged moratorium on uranium enrichment, asking only for a suspension during talks on its nuclear program. Ahmadinejad did not say whether he accepted the proposal, part of a package of incentives in exchange for Iran suspending enrichment.

Last week, the United States agreed last week to join France, Britain and Germany in talks with Iran. If the talks occur, it would be the first major public negotiations between Washington and Tehran in more than 25 years.

However, Ahmadinejad insisted that Iran would never give up its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to produce nuclear fuel.

The move by the United States to join talks is a change in the administration's prior strategy. The decision to join the talks is consistent with the shift to an approach that is focused on "containment" as previously reported by Thought Theater here.