- Daily Photo: Obama Jokes Around at G-20
- Blackwater gets replaced in Iraq
- Daily Photo: U.S. Marines Look Out for Taliban in Afghanistan
- Hillary Clinton the Tomboy and Her "Ah-Ha" Moment
- Obama Administration Sudan Envoy Headed to Region
- Daily Photo: Potential Flashpoint in Iraq
- Clinton Says New Afghanistan-Pakistan Plan Depends on Diplomacy
- Exclusive: Three Israeli Airstrikes Against Sudan
- Additional 4,000 Troops to Be Ordered to Afghanistan
- Daily Photo: Navy Submarine Trains in the Arctic
- Alarm Over North Korea Missile Prep
- Anti-Terror Stimulus? US Offers Rewards for Top Terrorists
- Daily Photo: Pakistani Women in Refugee Camp
- Condoleezza Rice Appears on "The Tonight Show"
- Diplomat and Aid Group Sound the Alarm on Darfur Camp Situation
- auto industry rescue
- Ballotwatch
- Biden, Joe
- Bush, George W.
- Clinton, Bill
- Clinton, Hillary
- Dodd, Chris
- Edwards, John
- Giuliani, Rudy
- Gravel, Mike
- Huckabee, Mike
- Hunter, Duncan
- Inauguration
- Iraq
- Kucinich, Dennis
- McCain, John
- Obama, Barack
- Palin, Sarah
- Paul, Ron
- Romney, Mitt
- Tancredo, Tom
- Thompson, Fred
- Veepstakes
- Vote 2008: Democrats
- Vote 2008: Republicans
- Washington
- White House
« Previous | Main | Next »
Rice Likely to Meet with Iranians in Egypt
Email
ShareApril 30, 2007 4:51 PM
ABC News' Kirit Radia Reports: The U.S. has slowly been opening the door publicly toward the possibility of a meeting between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Iranian counterpart when the two attend the expanded Iraq Neighbors Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt later this week.
Such a meeting would be a major shift in policy, as the Bush administration has insisted that they would not sit down with the Iranians until Iran suspended nuclear enrichment.
A Senior State Deptartment official all but confirmed that Rice will meet with a representative of the Iranian government. "I wouldn't be surprised if they met," the offical told ABC News.
A senior European official who met with Secretary Rice today confirmed this as well, telling ABC News that such a meeting will be a first contact, and that the meeting will likely be out of the public view.
In a brefing with reporters on Monday, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack was more forthcoming than he's previously been about discussing the possibly meeting saying that "we're not ruling out the possibility that she may see the Iranian foreign minister while she's on the ground there. I'm not pointing you in that direction, but we're not going to rule it out."
McCormack added that such a meeting would focus on Iraq's security and the US would raise issues of arms entering Iraq and Iranian support for terror inside Iraq. "If she does have an opportunity to see the Iranian foreign minister, I'm sure she would raise issues related to Iraq's security," he said.
In a further hint that a meeting was likely, McCormack said that there would be structure to a meeting, rather than a chance encounter.
"Look, if she does, in fact, see the Iranian foreign minister, I think that there would be some organization to it. It wouldn't just be by happenstance," he said.
"Well, we'll see if, in fact, the opportunity presents itself and Secretary Rice feels as though it's the right time and the right moment," McCormack added.
April 30, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0)
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
Post a comment
