Iran Nuclear NewsOfficials: Greece conveying Tehran messages

Officials: Greece conveying Tehran messages

-

AP: Iran has turned to Greece to convey messages to the United States regarding its contentious nuclear program and other disputes, officials said Friday. Associated Press

By GEORGE JAHN

Associated Press Writer

VIENNA, Austria (AP) – Iran has turned to Greece to convey messages to the United States regarding its contentious nuclear program and other disputes, officials said Friday.

Their comments suggested Tehran might be willing to engage Washington in an effort to thwart momentum toward a U.N. Security Council resolution that could hit Iran with sanctions over its nuclear defiance.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack on Wednesday confirmed the existence of “ad-hoc channels … going back over the past year” that allow Washington and Tehran to speak through third parties. He did not go into specifics.

But on Friday, a U.S. official familiar with the contacts named Greece as a conduit, saying the country has already served as a liaison.

Athens refused to officially comment, but a senior government figure told AP his country did not deny such activity. Both he and the U.S. official demanded anonymity in exchange for commenting on the sensitive issue and declined to discuss specifics.

The U.S. official said Greece has good connections in Iran.

The two countries have had good relations for years and have signed numerous agreements in the last two decades ranging from energy to fighting terrorism.

Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis has met with both Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Tehran’s chief Iranian nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, in recent weeks.

Two officials contacted by AP – both based in Vienna and familiar with the Iranian talks – said Greece was not alone in being asked to act as an intermediary over the past two years.

The Iranians have made it clear that they want dialogue, and they are using every available means to deliver that message, said a senior diplomat accredited to the International Atomic Energy Agency. The trouble is, the other side is not amenable, the diplomat said.

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei has denied being asked to mediate after his offer two years ago to do so was rebuffed by the United States. But a U.N. official said ElBaradei has represented the Iranian standpoint to the Americans several times in the past and even mentioned Iran’s interest in bilateral talks this week to Rice.

ElBaradei, traveling in the United States Friday, could not be reached for comment.

Switzerland has formally represented U.S. diplomatic interests in Iran since the two countries severed ties after Iranian radicals stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979.

Associated Press writers Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed to this report.

Latest news

 Statistics show that New Year accidents’ deaths in Iran reached 585

Ahmad Shirani, the head of the Information and Traffic Control Center of the Iranian regime’s police, announced that the...

Land Subsidence in Critical Conditions in Isfahan

Mehdi Toghyani, a member of the Iranian regime’s Majlis (parliament), pointed to the occurrence of land subsidence in various...

Iran’s Actual Inflation Rate Higher Than Official Stats

The state-run Donya-e-eqtesad newspaper, in a report analyzing the "general sentiment" regarding inflation in 2023, has stated that households...

Iranian Workers’ Monthly $136 Wages Can’t Cover $500 Expenses

The lives of a significant portion of the Iranian population are marked by uncertainty, largely because the Iranian economy...

Iranian Nurses Earn Twice Their Wages in Ride-Hailing Services

Reza Aryanpour, a member of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) Health and Treatment Commission, highlighted the growing trend of nurses...

Iran: Unprecedented Record of 152 Million Liters of Gasoline Consumption Per Day

On March 19, Iran set a new historical record in gasoline consumption with 152 million liters consumed in one...

Must read

US aircraft carrier ‘spotted’ in Iran wargames zone

AFP: A US aircraft carrier entered a zone near...

Russia attacks Iran’s verbal assault on Medvedev

Reuters: Iranian criticism of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is...

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you