Washington/Paris: July 17, 2008 – IR Summary/NYT -American official’s participation in international talks with Iran is a clear shift in the foreign policy of America in the area of their nuclear program, the shift is welcome in Iran.

President Bush, who had made a firm mind that he would show his leniency to Iran for face to face talk only after it suspended its uranium enrichment, as demanded by the UNSC but he looks to have changed his mind and softened his stand towards Iran, probably he feels sure that Iran might agree what he wants them to do.

The Bush administration’s decision to send a senior American official to participate in international talks with Iran this weekend is, however, welcome by Iran.
As per NYT, an American partner at the table injects new importance to the negotiating track of the six global powers confronting Iran — France, Britain, Germany, Russia, China and the United States — even though their official stance is that no substantive talks can begin until uranium enrichment stops.

The increased engagement raised questions of whether the Bush administration would alter its stance toward Iran as radically as it did with North Korea, risking a fresh schism with conservatives who have accused the White House of granting concessions to so-called rogue states without extracting enough in return.

The administration sought to describe the talks as a continuation of the same strategy it has always pursued: halting Iran’s nuclear activities without having to resort to military force.

The presence of William J. Burns, the under secretary of state for political affairs, at the meeting with Saeed Jalili, Iran’s nuclear negotiator, in Geneva on Saturday, will send “a strong signal to the Iranian government that the United States is committed to diplomacy,” the State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, told reporters on Wednesday. Mr. McCormack insisted that there had been no change in policy.

Full