US wants to directly engage Iran

WATCH VIDEO

Source: CCTV.com | 04-10-2009 15:06

The United States reacted cautiously on Thursday to the Iranian President's openness to talks, saying Washington had made clear its desire to engage Iran and was waiting for Tehran to respond.

File photo shows US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton giving a speech next to William J. Burns (L) at the State Department in Washington.(AFP/File/Mark Ralston)

Robert Woods, Spokesman of US State Department, said, "We want to engage Iran and we have said so very clearly and publicly, and so we wait for Iran to reciprocate. I don't have anything to add. Engaging with Iran is something we said we would now do without preconditions, but there are certain obligations that Iran has. We've said all along that Iran is entitled to have a civilian nuclear program, but with that program comes responsibilities, and Iran has not been forthcoming with regard to some of the concerns the international community has about its programs. Those concerns remain, but we do want to directly engage Iran."

Editor:Zhang Pengfei