U.S. considering economic rewards if Iran won't pursue nukes
White House looking for diplomatic means to disarmament
From Dana Bash
CNN White House Bureau
 | |
| |
|  VIDEO |
 How would U.S. troops match up in a war with Iran?
 Condoleezza Rice meets with NATO and EU officials over Iran's nuclear aims.
|
RELATED |
• Iran: U.S. strike would fail
• Iran says it will repel invasion
|
|
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush is moving closer to to offering Iran economic incentives in exchange for promises to abandon any possible nuclear weapons program, the White House said Monday.
European nations involved in anti-nuclear proliferation talks with Iran have tried to persuade the United States to join the negotiations in hopes that Washington would offer to lift Iranian sanctions in exchange for a permanent deal.
Iran has denied U.S. accusations it is using its nuclear program to develop weapons. Bush discussed the issue with European leaders during a recent European trip.
"The president is thinking through some of the ideas discussed [during his trip to Europe] last week," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. "We want to look at how to be most helpful in moving forward to our shared goal."
For months, Britain, France and Germany have been negotiating directly with Iran to freeze its suspected nuclear weapons program.
Recently, Iran agreed to temporarily suspend the enrichment of uranium -- which can be used to develop to nuclear weapons -- while talks continue with Europe about possible trade deals.
After meetings last week with European leaders, Bush and top aides signaled that the administration was more open to going along with their strategy to reward Tehran with economic incentives if it agrees to halt any nuclear programs.
Bush met with his top advisers Friday, the day after he returned from Europe, to discuss possible specifics for the incentives.
Though they came to no final conclusions, the White House says the president is considering going along with a European idea to offer Iranian accession into the World Trade Organization, and other economic incentives.
Despite repeated requests from European leaders over the past couple of years, the United States has never joined the ongoing talks between Iran and the three European nations. The White House still does not want to participate in direct negotiations with Iran.
A central goal of the president's talks last week was making it clear to Europeans that "Iraq is not Iran," and that the United States is eager to solve the Iranian issue diplomatically.
Agreeing to incentives, administration officials concede, would be a way to show some goodwill to Europeans by proving the president can be flexible in the name of diplomacy and patching up differences over the Iraq war.
"We are looking at options for the way forward when it comes to Iran," said McClellan. "The president had some very good discussion about it last week. ... He's closer than he was last week."
Separately, the White House repeated concerns about a nuclear fuel agreement signed during the weekend by Russia and Iran.
"We have expressed our long-standing concerns about Iran seeking to acquire nuclear weapons under the cover of the civilian nuclear program," McClellan said.
But he also noted that "Russia has expressed how they share our concerns ... that Iran must not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons,"
Despite the White House opposition to the deal, McClellan "noted" efforts by Russians to incorporate some protections into the sale of nuclear material to Iran.
"The Russians previously assured us that no fuel would be delivered until Iran resolves the questions regarding compliance with its international obligations and that any spent fuel must be returned to Russia," he said.
Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks Thursday in the Slovak capital of Bratislava and announced that Iran and North Korea should not possess nuclear weapons.(Full story)
