Iran’s firm determination on its stance toward not suspending uranium enrichment and rejection of preconditions for nuclear talks with the West, finally forced the White House to modify its irrational demand.
The US State Department confirmed that Iran could enter negotiations on its nuclear program without initially meeting the demand of the United States and other so-called major powers that it suspend its uranium enrichment program.
US officials said that they are amenable to a so-called pre-negotiation in which Iran would only be required to stop adding to its enrichment capacity, VOA reported.
The offer of a so-called pre-negotiation period had been reported in recent days in news accounts quoting various diplomatic sources, but the comments by State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack were the most specific on the subject to date.
The United States, along with the four other permanent UN Security Council member countries and Germany, has offered Iran a variety of incentives, including aid for its civil nuclear program if it halts a uranium-enrichment drive.
European Union chief diplomat, Javier Solana, and a delegation of diplomats from the P5+1 group presented Iran in mid-June with what is described as a refreshed incentives proposal.
In a talk with reporters, McCormack confirmed that their proposal also includes the offer of a pre-negotiation period, lasting six weeks, in which Iran would add no more centrifuges to its enrichment effort, though existing ones could stay in operation.
During that period, Iran would begin nuclear talks with members of the P5+1, excluding the United States, on the benefits package.
If Iran suspended the enrichment program, the major powers would suspend enactment of UN Security Council sanctions on Iran.
In his comments, McCormack defended the pre-negotiation offer amid suggestions by some critics that it is too generous an offer to Tehran.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said repeatedly that if Iran suspended uranium enrichment, she would be prepared to directly engage her Iranian counterpart in any venue on any issue the Iranians would want to raise.
Iran is expected to deliver its answer to the refreshed incentives offer soon, probably in a Tehran meeting between the European Union’s Solana and Iranian nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki addresses the ceremony for commemorating the kidnapped Iranian diplomats at the Foreign Ministry in Tehran on Saturday.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki denounced the Zionist regime for abducting four Iranian diplomats in Lebanon in 1982 and said humanitarian institutions across the world should follow up the issue on the basis of their commitment to the international community.
Addressing the ceremony for commemorating the kidnapped Iranian diplomats at the Foreign Ministry on Saturday, Mottaki said, “We want the UN secretary-general and the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights in Geneva to seriously make new effort for obtaining information on the conditions of the abductees.“
Kazem Akhavan, Ahmad Motavasselian, Mohsen Mousavi and Taqi Rastegar-Moqaddam were abducted in Lebanon on July 4, 1982, by Lebanon’s phalangists and handed over to the Zionist regime.
Commending Lebanese officials who seriously followed up the case throughout the years, the top Iranian diplomat said, “We demand that the new government in Lebanon and its president make new efforts for clarifying the conditions of the four Iranian nationals.
Assassination, abduction, occupation and savage bombardments are inseparable aspects of the aggressive nature of the Zionist regime, which has been founded in the region illegitimately.“
Mottaki emphasized that the Zionist regime and the US are responsible for the inhuman abduction of the four diplomats.
Referring to the tough challenges facing the Zionist regime in the region, he said, “In no other time in history has the occupying regime of Israel faced the widespread non-recognition of its sovereignty at the regional and international levels. The Zionist regime, like the former racist regime of South Africa, is ultimately doomed.“
The minister noted that what the enemies have imposed on Iran in the past 30 years have so far failed to yield favorable results.
“They imposed war (1980-8) on us in order to overthrow the Islamic Republic and, if unsuccessful in toppling the regime, to make Iran seriously dependant on other countries. But today Iran is more dynamic than ever and disseminates the message of peace, justice and humanity worldwide,“ he said.
Meanwhile, Manijeh Motavasselian, Ahmad Motavasselian’s sister, told the ceremony that Israelis say all four diplomats are dead, but the latest news we received suggest that they are all alive and in the custody of the Zionist regime.
Maryam Mojtahedzadeh, Mohsen Mousavi’s wife, told Iran Daily that a man who was in prison with his husband said three years ago that Mousavi is alive.
“This man, who is currently in Lebanon, recognized my husband from the picture that I showed him and said that he is confident that my husband is alive,“ she said.
Resistance
In a message to the same ceremony, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said nobody can break the resistance of the Iranian nation.
The chief executive underlined that the government will spare no efforts to clarify the conditions of the four abducted diplomats, IRNA reported.
“The brave Iranian nation, the patient family members of the four beloved diplomats and all the sympathizers of the Islamic Republic, who have for years been waiting to see the four prudent diplomatsÉare commemorating them at a time when painstaking efforts are being made at all levels to remove ambiguities about this painful national tragedy,“ the message said.
It also noted that the sworn enemies of the Islamic Revolution are upset about momentous accomplishments of Iran on the international scene and resort to every trick in the book to slow down the rapid pace of progress experienced by the nation.
“Being held captive by the enemies is part of the price that the freedom-seeking and heroic nation of Iran has been paying for protecting the country’s independence and for its active presence on the global scene, which is full of upheavals. The occupying Zionists and their friends think they can break the resistance of the Iranian nation by abducting Iranian nationals and fighting against divine justice. However, the resistance of our people relies on the help of God Almighty and nobody can break it,“ it said.
The president, in the final part of the message, said, “I praise the patient and resistant family members of the four abducted diplomats. I hereby give assurance that the government will do everything possible to clarify the fate of the diplomats and, God willing, return these epitomes of resistance and courage home.“

Hezbollah is speeding up preparations in south Lebanon to celebrate a prisoner swap with Israel that is expected to take place next week.
A worker at the Media Affairs Office of the Shiite resistance movement in the town of Nabatieh said hundreds of volunteers have been hanging banners throughout the south to praise Hezbollah’s role in securing the exchange, AFP reported.
Israel’s Cabinet last month approved a deal for the release of five Lebanese prisoners, the remains of Hezbollah fighters and a number of Palestinians in exchange for the bodies of soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.
Hezbollah fought with Israel in July 2006, which killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.
The Shiite group’s decorations cover the coastal road all the way from the Israeli border up to the southern port city of Sidon.
“We are a people who will not abandon our detainees in prison“, and “Thanks to the weapons of resistance, we will free our prisoners,“ read the slogans taken from speeches by Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah.

The Bush administration has rejected regulating the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, dismissing the recommendations of its top experts.
The US government claims that cutting greenhouse gases would cripple the US economy.
In a 588-page federal notice, the Environmental Protection Agency made no finding on whether global warming poses a threat to people’s health or welfare, reversing an earlier conclusion at the insistence of the White House and officially kicking any decision on a solution to the next president and Congress, Alalam reported.
The White House on Thursday rejected the EPA’s suggestion three weeks earlier that the 1970 Clean Air Act can be both workable and effective for addressing global climate change.
The EPA said Friday that the law is ’ill-suited’ for dealing with global warming.
“If our nation is truly serious about regulating greenhouse gases, the Clean Air Act is the wrong tool for the job,“ EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson told reporters. “It is really at the feet of Congress.“
The White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said President Bush is committed to further reductions but that there is a “right way and a wrong way to deal with climate change.“
The wrong way is “to sharply increase gasoline prices, home heating bills and the cost of energy for American businesses,“ she said.
“The right way, as the president has proposed, is to invest in new technologies.“
At the just concluded G-8 summit at Toyako, Japan, Bush and other world leaders called for a voluntary 50-percent reduction in greenhouse gases worldwide by 2050 but offered no specifics on how to do it.
In a setback for Bush, the Supreme Court ruled last year that the government had the authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases as a pollutant. Bush has consistently opposed doing that.
Congress hasn’t found the will to do much about the problem either. Supporters of regulating greenhouse gases could get only 48 votes in the 100-member Senate last month.
The House has held several hearings on the problem but no votes on any bill addressing it.
Both major presidential candidates, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, have endorsed variations of the approach rejected by the Senate.
In its voluminous document, the EPA laid out a buffet of options on how to reduce greenhouse gases from cars, ships, trains, power plants, factories and refineries.