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TEHRAN - An adviser to Iran's top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, suggested in remarks published today that Tehran might consider suspending sensitive atomic work.
The comments are the latest in a series of conflicting signals from Iranian officials on whether Iran would halt uranium enrichment, which
the West fears Tehran is using to build nuclear bombs. Iran insists its plans are peaceful.
President George W. Bush said today he believed the United States and its allies were making progress toward solving their disputes with Iran over its nuclear program peacefully but direct talks with Tehran were unlikely to be successful.
"If I thought we could achieve success, I would sit down (with the Iranians)," Bush told a news conference in Washington. "But I don't think we can achieve success right now."
"We are more likely to achieve our goals when others are involved as well."
In previous rounds of nuclear talks that collapsed, Iran said it was open to discussing suspension but would explain that it was an "illogical" step for Iran. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ruled out suspension in a speech on Sunday.
Ali Akbar Velayati, quoted by French daily Liberation, said Iran had accepted suspension in the past but the move had not helped to end the dispute.
"But if we continue to be in favor of a peaceful resolution of this problem, no idea should be unacceptable, not for us or for anyone else," he said. "We have only got one red line: respecting our right to nuclear energy, which is guaranteed in the (nuclear) Non-Proliferation Treaty."
The NPT gives signatories the right to enrich fuel for atomic power provided their plans are verified as peaceful.
Velayati was Iran's foreign minister under influential former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. He now serves as an adviser on international affairs to Khamenei.
The UN Security Council has put sanctions on Iran and given it until February 21 to halt its enrichment work or face more penalties.
Supreme leader has final say
Analysts say the supreme leader, although he has the final say on state matters, reaches decisions via consensus from a broad range of opinions.
As well as Ahmadinejad, other officials have also ruled out suspension, including the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Gholamreza Aghazadeh.
"(The West) won't reach what they are after (suspension)," Aghazadeh was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Ahmadinejad's speech on Sunday "doesn't at all meet the expectations of the UN Security Council" but he said a peaceful solution to the standoff could be found.
"For the first time there is a debate in Iran. A certain number of personalities ... are beginning to question Mr. Ahmadinejad's way of dealing with the nuclear dossier," he said.
Iranian critics have blamed Ahmadinejad's defiant rhetoric for helping unite major powers in passing a December UN sanctions resolution against the Islamic republic.
The critics have been emboldened since Ahmadinejad's supporters were trounced in local polls at the end of last year.
Ahmadinejad has denied any rift in the leadership and has emphasised that matters such as nuclear policy are ultimately decided by the supreme leader, not him.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying on Wednesday that Moscow expects the United States to show the same flexibility in resolving the problem of Iran's nuclear program as it did with North Korea.
"I would like to note the efforts by the American side (which) made compromise steps toward Pyongyang and unblocked the six-party process," Lavrov told journalists. "(I) would like to see the same flexibility, a sensible flexibility ... with regards to Iran's nuclear program."
Under a breakthrough agreement struck yesterday, Pyongyang will freeze the reactor at the heart of its nuclear program and allow international inspections of the site in return for about US$300 million worth of aid.
Sanctions on Iran are not a way to solve the problem, said Lavrov, who also criticised Iran's response to steps by the international community to resolve the nuclear issue.
"If a new (UN) resolution helps to start negotiations, we will appreciate and support it," he added.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for talks expected to cover Iran's nuclear energy program, Iranian media said.
- REUTERS
