Iran says nuclear issue cooling off

TEHRAN, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Iran's president says he believes the United States and the West have accepted the idea of negotiations in the dispute over Iran's nuclear program.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a news conference in Tehran Sunday following a summit with Syrian President Bashar Assad that Iran was serious about negotiations and that "all those who stood against Iran over the past years have now reached a conviction that in this issue there is no other way but to involve into dialogue and consultation."

Ahmadinejad also said Iran was prepared to talk about "different issues on the regional and international stage," according to the Syrian news agency SANA.

Israel's Debkafiles intelligence site said Assad's visit was arranged so Iran and Syria could come up with a follow-up plan after out-maneuvering the West in the nuclear dispute.

Debkafiles contends the Bush administration and Europe took all of the pressure off Iran by opening back-channel talks with the Islamic republic and predicted Syria would soon back away from its diplomatic efforts with Israel.