WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers from both parties have expressed a willingness to give President Barack Obama's outreach to Iran a chance to end to Tehran's nuclear standoff with the West, but at the same time they are crafting tough new U.S. economic sanctions to further isolate the Islamic republic. Obama's phone call last week to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was a groundbreaking conversation. It was the first contact in more than 30 years between the leaders of the two countries and an about-face from when Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, included Iran in his "axis of evil" with North Korea and Iraq.
Obama wants Rouhani to prove that he's willing to curtail some of his country's uranium enrichment activity, which many believe is being used to give Iran nuclear weapons capability. Rouhani said Wednesday in Tehran that Iran is open to discussing "details" of its nuclear activities to reach a deal with world powers. He emphasized Tehran's longstanding position that Iran has a fundamental right to enrich uranium, a key ingredient of nuclear weapons that Iran says it needs for peaceful purposes. But his statement was a veiled hint that Iran is open to negotiate on the level of uranium enrichment as part of a deal in return for lifting of sanctions.
"Iran's enrichment right is not negotiable, but we must enter into talks" to see what the other side proposes, he said in remarks after a meeting with his Cabinet. Rouhani said Iran had drawn up a "precise plan" to present later this month at the next round of talks with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany. The U.S. engagement with Iran, meanwhile, is straining relations with Israel, a key American ally. -
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