(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-24 11:52

RicDAVOS, Switzerland -- The United States believes there is no permanent enemies so it is possible for it to have better relations with countries like Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice delivers her opening speech at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alpine resort town of Davos Jan. 23, 2008. [Xinhua]

"I can assure you that America has no permanent enemies, because we harbor no permanent hatreds," Rice said in a speech to the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos.

Rice said even relations between the United States and Iran could move toward normalization, although there has been 29 years of hostility between the two countries.

"If Iran would suspend its uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities ...we could begin negotiations, and we could work over time to build a new, more normal relationship," Rice told political and business leaders at the meeting.

The US-Iran relationship could be one that is "defined not by fear and mistrust, but growing cooperation, expanding trade and exchange, and the peaceful management of differences," she said.

Rice expressed the belief that the problem concerning Iran's nuclear program could be resolved through diplomacy.

She said the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany remain united on the Iranian nuclear issue.

"We do not want Iran to become a nuclear weapons power, and we will continue to hold Iran to its international obligations," she said.

According to Rice, the United States can also have a better relationship with the DPRK if the issue involving the country's nuclear program is completely resolved.

"It is because America desires no permanent enemies that we can imagine a better relationship with North Korea, and we are working to build it in the Six Party Talks," Rice said.

Rice stressed, however, that the DPRK must meet more obligations than disabling its Yongbyon nuclear facility, which include the provision of a complete and accurate declaration of all nuclear programs and activities.

Rice also stressed the importance of relationship between the United States and Russia despite differences between the two countries on various issues.

"No one can imagine a world in which the absence of US-Russian cooperation will make any of our challenges easier to solve," Rice said.

Rice rejected as "hyperbolic nonsense" speculations that there could be a new Cold War between Washington and Moscow.

"Our relations today are fundamentally different than they were when all we shared was the desire to avoid mutual annihilation," she said.

According to Rice, the United States and Russia are now "working constructively on many issues of mutual interest - from counter-proliferation, to counter terrorism, to the pursuit of peace in the Middle East."

"We are determined to remember this, even when we hear unwise and irresponsible rhetoric from Russia that harkens back to an earlier time," she said.