Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said Saturday that the door to negotiations between his country and the United States is open.

"The relationship between Iran and the United States can be great for the region and the whole world," Khatami told a session of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

He said he made proposals for talks with Washington when he was president, but to no avail.

"Unfortunately we had a very big, huge wall of inconfidence," he spoke through an interpreter.

But he said the door to negotiations remains open if there is no precondition from the United States and if Iran is treated equally.

He said both Washington and Tehran have to tone down their rhetoric to cultivate confidence.

U.S. Senator John Kerry called on President George W. Bush to engage with Iran and Syria. There is an opportunity for Bush to be a bigger person, he said.

He said he had "deep, abiding" differences with the Bush Administration on its Middle East policy.

But he said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remarks on the destruction of Israel and on the Holocaust were unbecoming of a nation of greatness.

He called on Iran to declare suspension of uranium enrichment to win international confidence.

Uranium enrichment is know-how which can produce nuclear fuel for energy and can also lead to the production of nuclear weapons.

Panelists of the session also underlined the importance of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is thought to be the central issue fueling instability in the region.

Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Mahmoud Nazif said terrorists are justifying their cause using the Palestinian issue.

Amr Moussa, secretary general of the League of Arab States, called for seriousness of global and regional leaders. They do not have to reinvent the wheel, he said. If serious, peace can be reached in 2007, he argued.

Kerry said Israelis and Palestinians now know each other's bottom line. Therefore there is need for leadership to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Source: Xinhua