WASHINGTON, July 16 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush authorized sending a top State Department official to talks in Switzerland on Iran's nuclear program, an administration source said.
The decision to sit at the table with Iran represents the most significant U.S. diplomatic contact with Iran since 1979's Islamic Revolution and appears to run counter to the administration's pledge not to negotiate with Iran unless the country stopped its enrichment program, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
William J. Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs and the department's third-ranking official, is to attend a meeting Saturday with Javier Solanda, the European Union's foreign policy head, and Saeed Jalili, Iran's nuclear negotiator, a senior administration official told the Times.
Jalili is expected to present Iran's formal response to a package of economic and diplomatic incentives that Germany and U.N. Security Council permanent members Russia, China, France, Britain and the United States presented Iran in June. Representatives from those countries will also attend the meeting, the source said.
Bush approved the contact "to press the advantage," an administration official told the Times. Burns' participation was a one-time decision, the source said, adding that the diplomat would reiterate the administration's demand that Iran suspend uranium enrichment.
The United States and other countries contend that Iran's enrichment activity is part of its effort to build nuclear weapons. Iran has denied the charge.
