Official: Iran Open to US Mission

July 26, 2008
TEHRAN (FNA)-

Iranian officials would be open to the United States opening a diplomatic office in Tehran, Expediency Council Secretary Mohsen Rezai said.

Rezai said Iranians and Americans have mutual interests and a US diplomatic presence in Iran would have a positive outcome, the Kuwaiti news agency reported Friday.

US officials reportedly are investigating the possibility of opening a US special interests section, a move that would help establish a full embassy and a diplomatic corps in Iran.

Meantime, Pakistan's Former Foreign Secretary Tanvir Ahmed Khan told the Islamic republic news agency while Western countries were trying to develop a relationship with Iran, they weren't ready for high-level talks.

Khan said developments, such as a top US State Department official attending recent discussions on Iran's nuclear debates, were positive, adding such moves are a "welcoming sign and would have great impact on the region".

He ruled out the possibility of any US-led attack on Iran, saying only Israel would pressure the United States into such a move. Israel has expressed concern about Iran's nuclear capability.

"I don't believe either of the states can afford such type of hostility," Khan said.

Israel and its close ally the United States accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, while they have never presented any corroborative document to substantiate their allegations. Both Washington and Tel Aviv possess advanced weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear warheads.

Iran vehemently denies the charges, insisting that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.

Iran has also insisted that it would continue enriching uranium because it needs to provide fuel to a 300-megawatt light-water reactor it is building in the southwestern town of Darkhoveyn as well as its first nuclear power plant in the southern port city of Bushehr.

Tel Aviv and Washington have recently intensified their threats to launch military action against Iran to make Tehran drop what they allege to be a non-peaceful nuclear program, while a recent report by 16 US intelligence bodies endorsed the civilian nature of Iran's nuclear plans and activities.

Following the US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) and similar reports by the IAEA head - one in November and the other one in February - which praised Iran's truthfulness about key aspects of its past nuclear activities and announced settlement of outstanding issues with Tehran, any effort to impose further sanctions or launch military attack on Iran seems to be completely irrational.

The February report by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, praised Iran's cooperation in clearing up all of the past questions over its nuclear program, vindicating Iran's nuclear program and leaving no justification for any new UN sanctions.

The UN nuclear watchdog has so far carried out at least 14 surprise inspections of Iran's nuclear sites, but found nothing to support the allegations.

Following the said reports by the US and international bodies, many world states have called the UN Security Council pressure against Tehran unjustified, demanding that Iran's case must be normalized and returned from the UNSC to the IAEA.

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