DAR AL HARB - U.S.A.: PRESIDENT BUSH SAYS THAT SEC. OF STATE RICE CAN HOLD INFORMAL TALKS WITH IRAN

Bush raises possibility of talks with Iran
By Alex Spillius in Washington

President George W. Bush said Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, could hold informal talks with Iranian leaders at an international conference on Iraq next week, signalling a significant shift in the US administration’s stance towards the Islamic republic.

In a television interview, Mr Bush said Miss Rice could meet her Iranian counterpart on the sidelines of the conference being held in Egypt.

Earlier this week Miss Rice said that if Manouchehr Mottaki did not attend the meeting in Sharm el-Sheik it would be a “missed opportunity” and emphasized that America’s aim in Iran was not regime change but a “change in the regime”.

Mr Bush told the PBS network on Tuesday night that if a meeting did occur, Miss Rice’s message to the Iranians would be: “Don’t send weapons in [to Iraq] that will end up hurting our troops, and help this young democracy survive.”

He said that it was too early for formal bilateral talks between the two countries, which have been at hostile odds since 1979, when revolutionary students stormed the American embassy in Teheran and Washington cut diplomatic ties.

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1) Bush raises possibility of talks with Iran