The Obama administration on Thursday called on Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program and related activities, saying direct dialogue would be up to Tehran's willingness and behavior.
"We've not put any preconditions on having a direct dialogue with Iran. But our concerns about its nuclear activities remain. They need to be addressed, and we want to see them addressed," State Department acting spokesman Robert Wood said at a daily press briefing.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated his country's first nuclear fuel manufacturing plant on Thursday and disclosed that it was running around 7,000 centrifuges at its uranium enrichment facility.
According to the president, Iran has tested "two new kinds of centrifuges with capacity several times greater than the existing ones."
"The United States has made a very clear policy decision that it's willing to engage in direct dialogue with the government in Tehran," said Wood, adding that the Obama administration wants to "move forward substantively and positively" on Iran's nuclear program and other issues.
"We have called on Iran to suspend its enrichment and related activities. We want to see that happen. That's not just a call from the United States. That's a call from other countries. And so,we remain concerned about what Iran is doing," said the spokesman.
"It will be up to Iran whether it wants to engage with us, but, again, there are a whole host of issues that not only the United States, but other countries have of concern with regard to Iran and its behavior overall," said the spokesman.
The Obama administration said on Wednesday that it would directly participate "from now on" in international talks with Iran over its nuclear program, the latest effort made by the administration as promised diplomatic outreach to Tehran.
"There's nothing more important than trying to convince Iran to cease its efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon," said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who noted that the United States would be a full participant with Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany in talks with Iran.
Clinton's remarks were viewed as a shift of the Obama administration's Iran policy. Its predecessor, the Bush administration, had refused to take part in talks involving Iran on its nuclear issue, saying that Tehran had to first stop the uranium enrichment program.
The United States and its European allies claim that Iran intends to secretly develop nuclear weapons, while the UN Security Council also requires Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment activity.
However, Iran insists that its nuclear plan is only for peaceful purposes, and continues its uranium enrichment activity despite the pressure from the western countries and relevant resolutions and sanctions of the United Nations.
Source:Xinhua
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