Iran's disputed nuclear program was on the agenda as Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and foreign ministers from the world's largest industrial
democracies met in run-up to Russia's debut as host to leaders of the Group of
Eight nations next month.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator and the European Union's foreign policy chief
plan to meet on July 5 to discuss a package of incentives from key global powers
to try to persuade Iran to roll back its uranium enrichment program, a U.N.
official said on condition of anonymity because no official announcement has
been made.
An announcement of the meeting between the EU's Javier Solana and Iran's Ali
Larijani was expected at Thursday's meeting in Moscow.
The Larijani-Solana meeting would be the first since the EU official
presented the incentive package to the Iranian negotiator in Tehran on June 6.
Larijani said then that the proposals contained "positive steps" but talks were
needed to clear up ambiguities.
Iran has not replied formally to a U.S. offer for the first high-level direct
talks in more than a quarter of a century. The talks would be aimed at
shuttering disputed nuclear activities that the West fears could lead to a bomb
while rewarding Iran with economic incentives and help developing civilian
nuclear power.
The Bush administration had hoped for an answer before Thursday's meeting,
but the diplomats are not expected to issue any new firm deadline for a reply.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that Iran does not
need negotiations with the United States over its nuclear program. Khamenei, who
has the final word on all state matters, did not give his position on the
proposals presented to Iran earlier this month.
Rice said Russia's democratic record and a list of issues in the Middle East
would be on the agenda for Thursday's gathering of diplomats from Russia,
Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, France, Canada and Japan
were meeting in the Russian capital.
"We should also talk about democracy and the importance of democratic
development, whether it is in Russia itself, where we hope that Russia would
enhance its commitment to democratic development, but also in places like
Belarus and places that have yet to see a democratic future," Rice said
Wednesday in an interview with CNN.
Washington has been critical of democratic retrenchment in Russia under
President Vladimir Putin and had hoped to use the spotlight of the summit to
keep up pressure for reform. The Bush administration has called Belarusian
President Alexander Lukashenko "Europe's last dictator," and last week imposed
financial sanctions on him and other officials of the authoritarian government.
Rice also said the ongoing governing crisis in the Palestinian territories
and democratic advances in Iraq and Afghanistan will be topics Thursday.
"We'll talk about how the international community can support the new Iraqi
government, the first democratically elected government in Iraq that really now
has asked the international community for its support," Rice said, adding that
she believed the ministers could make "a firm statement about
that."
