Don’t Bomb Iran

Iraqi President is Talibani trying to arrange US-Iran talks.  Tehran is ready but the White House insists Iran stop uranium enrichment first.   The White House is also resisting bipartisan demands  in Washington that Bush gets Congressional approval before any attack on Iran.   AFP report    AFP report
US firm on nuclear condition for Iran talks with Iran  Jan 19, 2:28 PM ET

The United States stuck by its demand that Iran freeze sensitive nuclear activity before any bilateral talks, after Iraq’s president said Tehran was ready to discuss several key disputes.

“As soon as the Iranians stop their nuclear enrichment and reprocessing activities, the United States will sit down with them for discussions,” US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe told AFP.

Earlier, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said in remarks published in the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat that Iran was ready to reach an understanding with the United States on issues ranging from Afghanistan to Lebanon.

The White House also took a dim view of proposed legislation, backed by lawmakers of both major US political parties, requiring US President George W. Bush to get congressional approval for using military force against Iran.

“I’m puzzled about that,” said spokeswoman Dana Perino. “There seems to be fanning of flames where there’s no fire.”

US officials have made clear that “our focus is on Iraq, that if there is targeting or intelligence that says that there will be harm to our troops or to Iraqi civilians or Iraqi troops by Iranian influence, that we are going to deal with that,” she said. “We’ll deal with that inside of Iraq.”

Talabani told Al-Hayat that, during a visit to Tehran last November, Iranian officials “said they are prepared to reach an understanding with America from Afghanistan to Lebanon and they are ready to talk in order to arrive at results satisfactory to both sides.”

Talabani, who met Iran’s supreme leader and its president during the visit, said he was continuing efforts to broker meetings between US and Iranian officials to resolve differences over Iraq after two such attempts failed.

“Obviously, we do not wish US-Iranian relations to degenerate into a conflict played out on Iraq’s territory,” he said.

Talabani, currently in Syria, said both Tehran and Damascus “have started to help the Iraqi government in a good way” to curb the sectarian violence plaguing the country.

The United States, whose forces are battling insurgents in Iraq, accuses both Iran and Syria of fomenting violence there. It also suspects Iran is secretly trying to build a nuclear bomb, but Tehran rejects the charges.