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'We continue to be willing to engage with Iran on specific issues of mutual concern', State Department Briefing, December 30

'State Department Briefing, December 30, 2003'

BRIEFER: J. Adam Ereli, Deputy Spokesman

MR. ERELI: Good morning, everybody. Welcome to our briefing today. I don't have any statements. So would George like to ask the first question?

QUESTION: I see the Secretary is telling The Washington Post that he's encouraged by recent moves by Iran. I assume it's an accurate quote. And could you enumerate the moves that he's talking about?

MR. ERELI: I think the Secretary mentioned a couple of positive signs we've seen, you know, with regard to developments in Iran over the past year. One, obviously, has to be the Board of Governors resolution on Iran's nuclear program. This was something that, as we've said earlier, we've been pushing for a long time.

We've been working consistently to bring the international community's attention to what we have been saying is a serious problem that has been characterized by intensive and wide-ranging diplomatic efforts over a long period of time to bring the international community's attention to this issue, to forge a consensus that it is a problem of concern, and to deal with it in a positive, forward-looking, serious way.

And I think the outcome of that or the latest sort of development in that area was the Board of Governor's resolution, which recognized -- had the 35 members of the Board of -- IAEA Board of Governors recognize by consensus that Iran had not been complying with its MPT obligations, and setting forward a program for them to do so, and making it clear that failure to follow through on those commitments and to follow through on that program would have -- would have serious consequences. So that is -- that is something that is worth noting and putting in the positive column.

A second thing would be, obviously, the signing of the Additional Protocol, moving that ball forward, getting Iran to live up to its commitments, follow through on its commitments. Obviously, much more needs to be done. And I don't think there was any suggestion that somehow the game is over or we've won and we can rest on our laurels, quite the contrary.

Follow through is key to this. Iran made commitments to IAEA. They made commitments to the EU3, and it will be critical in the period ahead to see that they follow through on that commitment. And we'll be working, as we have in the past, with our international partners, to see that that those commitments are honored.

Another positive thing which he talked about, obviously, was the recent contacts between the U.S. and Iran. They came in tragic circumstances, obviously, the earthquake in Bam, which was, as I said, a tragedy for the people of Iran. We reached out to the Iranians. We offered our assistance. That offer was -- was accepted, and I don't think you can see that as anything but a positive development for the people of Iran. It was a humanitarian gesture, let me stress. It was not a political gesture. It was not motivated by political concerns. It was something that, as President Bush said, represents the humanitarian spirit of the United States.

So those are all sort of positive and encouraging signs, and obviously, it's worth noting. On the other hand, that's not to diminish the serious concerns that we have about Iran's policies and Iran's behavior, starting with terrorism. You know, it's important to note that Iran is among the world's major, foremost sponsors of -- state sponsors of terror, and this is a -- this is something that remains a fundamental priority for us to contain and to roll back.

And, as I said earlier, Iran's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear, but also biological and chemical, is something we will be continuing to follow. So frankly, you know, if I had to wrap it all up, I'd say, "Look, there are still serious concerns out there. Don't mistake that. At the same time, it's worth noting that there have been some positive developments over the past year."

QUESTION: Are there any possibilities that --

QUESTION: Can I just follow up on that, then?

MR. ERELI: I think he had a follow-up.

QUESTION: All right. Can you say anything about the prospects for dialogue?

MR. ERELI: What I can say on the issue of dialogue is that we have always left open the option of engaging Iran in -- or engaging in dialogue with Iran at an appropriate time; that hasn't changed. We continue to be willing to engage with Iran on specific issues of mutual concern in an appropriate manner, if and when, the President determines it's in our interest to do so. So again, that -- I think that statement was made quite clearly by Deputy Secretary Armitage in testimony before Congress in October, so there hasn't been any change there.

QUESTION: Can I ask you something?

MR. ERELI: Follow-up.

QUESTION: There is a statement from President Khatami. It just came on the wire now saying that he rejected any negotiation with, with the American government unless there is fundamental change in what he called, "its hostile policy towards Iran." How do you react to that?

MR. ERELI: We're not offering negotiations.

QUESTION: So how was it interpreted as a negotiation? Because the article in The Washington Post was saying that, that there were -- the United States was willing to, to resume talks or negotiation. Is that a misquote?

MR. ERELI: Well, I'm not going to comment on what others have written or others have said. I will state what the United States' position is. And the United States' position is, and has been, and continues to be that we are open to dialogue with Iran at an appropriate time and on specific issues of mutual concern when it serves our interests, and that that is a decision that the President will make.

QUESTION: How will it be defined when the time is appropriate? Will that be when Iran has made some moves on, for instance, on al-Qaida suspects, support -- alleged support for Hezbollah and Hamas? So is it up to Iran to make concessions so that the United States can talk to them or are you prepared to be proactive and address some of their concerns to kind of bring this (inaudible)?

MR. ERELI: I don't think it's useful to get into a discussion of possible scenarios...

QUESTION: Can you give us a better sense today of the aid that the United States sent over to Iran, and do you know if it actually has been used yet, whether it's made any difference on the ground?

MR. ERELI: Well, I can tell you that the Disaster Assistance Relief Team that was led by USAID and arrived in Iran yesterday has been very warmly and positively received by the people of Iran. So I think that is a clear indicator of the impact and the importance of their participation there.

As we said yesterday, that team numbers 84 members of which there are seven Disaster Assistance Response Team members led by USAID, 11 members of the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Team, and 66 members of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which includes 60 medical professionals and a six-member management support team. The team deployed to Bam today, so they are now on the ground in Bam providing assistance.

I would also note that, in addition to these 84 member team that USAID is leading has put together, the U.S. Agency for International Development is also preparing two airlifts of prepositioned relief commodities from Dubai into Bam. These relief commodities include 300 rolls of plastic sheeting for temporary shelter and 12,500 blankets.

I would just note that, I think, one foot, one foot of plastic sheeting -- or 10 feet of -- one foot of plastic sheeting is enough to cover 10 people. So -- or I'm sorry -- each roll of plastic sheeting provides temporary shelter for 10 families. So if you've got 300 rolls, that covers 3,000 families. Those -- these commodities will be delivered to Iran as soon as the logistics can be arranged. That's primarily airspace and ramp space issues.

I would also note that if people are interested in helping assist the disaster relief efforts in Iran, the most important thing that they can do is to make cash contributions to humanitarian organizations that are conducting relief operations, and that you can get information on those organizations and how your -- how your money will be spent and make your donations by contacting the following website, which is www.relief, r-e-l-i-e-f, web, w-e-b, one word, .int, www.reliefweb.int. And this is something that appears in USAID's most recent fact sheet from yesterday detailing what's been done on -- in Iran, and how interested -- or interested parties can contribute.

QUESTION: Still Iran?

MR. ERELI: Mm-hmm.

QUESTION: Did the U.S. Government made it conditional that the aid will be delivered by U.S. military plane and not to be channeled through the UN agencies?

MR. ERELI: No.

QUESTION: Not at all?

MR. ERELI: No. Our concern was to get it there as quickly and efficiently as possible, and this was the arrangement that suited everybody best.

Yes. Hi.

QUESTION: Elise Cairn (ph) with Reuters.

MR. ERELI: Yeah.

QUESTION: Are you saying that Secretary Powell's comments represent no softening in the U.S. stance against Iran?

MR. ERELI: I think President Powell -- excuse me --

(Laughter.)

Strike that from the record. Secretary Powell's comments speak for themselves. He says there are positive developments. Those positive developments are there for everybody to see. There remain serious concerns. We are open to a dialogue at an appropriate time.

QUESTION: But are you more, are you more hopeful now than in the past that there will be some sort of a dialogue, I mean, in the future?

MR. ERELI: I wouldn't characterize it as optimistic or pessimistic or hopeful or not hopeful. What's important for us, as I mentioned in the case of the IAEA and the commitments to declare its -- and monitor its nuclear program, what's important are actions. What's important is seeing follow-through. What's important are meeting international commitments, and that is what we're looking -- that's what we're looking for in the area of WMD, in the area of stopping support for terrorists, in the area of cooperating in the fight against terrorism, particularly concerning al-Qaida leaders that Iran has information about. So these are all aspects of our policy that we want to see actions on.

Yes, Teri.

QUESTION: But if there's no change, then what, what are the encouraging moves toward Iran?

MR. ERELI: I was -- I spent a long time on that before you got in.

QUESTION: Hmmm.

MR. ERELI: The positive signs that we're seeing.

QUESTION: Oh, encouraging isn't -- encouraging is a direct quote, though, right?

MR. ERELI: Yeah, right.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR. ERELI: Right, and I detailed what those were earlier.

QUESTION: Right. Okay.

MR. ERELI: Yes, Nikolai.

QUESTION: So what you're saying is that the recent developments, as tragic as they may have been over the past few days, have done nothing to change American attitude or American policy towards Iran, in the political sense, not the humanitarian.

MR. ERELI: Yeah. Right. I mean, we've always said that humanitarian concerns are considered on their own merits, and that is on the need. The need for help in Iran is clear and compelling, and the American people responded to that need. And that is independent of political considerations. We're not going to let political considerations get in the way of helping the Iranian people when they need it.

QUESTION: And (inaudible)?

MR. ERELI: And I would also point, you know, another example would be North Korea. I mean we just approved 60,000 tons of food aid to North Korea to help starving people in North Korea. That decision was based upon need and obviously the ability of the -- for that aid to reach the people for whom it's intended. But you can have political differences with countries, but at the same time, help them, or help their people when they need it in situations of humanitarian crisis.

QUESTION: And these political realities can't get in the way of humanitarian systems, then should we also conclude that humanitarian gestures won't get in the way of political considerations?

MR. ERELI: Yeah, I would say they're distinct. They're distinct.

QUESTION: Do you see any possibility for progress in relations with Iran before Iran is tested with respect to inspections of their nuclear facilities?

MR. ERELI: I'd put it this way: Iran's follow-through on its commitments to the IAEA and to the international community are critical...

Source: US State Department, Washington File, http://usinfo.state.gov.

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