U.S. Appears Poised to Support European Incentives for Iran

President Bush and his closest foreign policy advisors convene today to grapple with an important shift in U.S. policy toward Iran: how best to support a European diplomatic initiative to prevent the Middle East nation from becoming a nuclear weapons state.

The discussions follow a working lunch Wednesday at the White House that included Vice President Dick Cheney, national security advisor Stephen J. Hadley and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, during which the Europeans’ strategy to offer economic incentives was discussed, U.S. officials said.

The issue is potentially divisive, with the more conservative members of the administration opposed in principle to any contact with Iran, arguing that it would only strengthen what they view as an illegitimate and oppressive regime.

Rice attended the lunch shortly after returning from London, where she conferred with the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany, the initiative’s three main sponsors. In the wake of those talks, Rice used the clearest language yet to signal an impending shift in policy.

“I’ve had further discussions with my European colleagues, and we are designing, I think, an important common strategy with Europe so that Iran knows there is no other way,” she said in an interview with NBC released Wednesday.

The secretary did not give details, and a senior administration official said it would be premature to say what the United States might offer.

Europe and the U.S. have concluded that there is strong evidence Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, but they have differed on how to stop it. Iran denies it has a nuclear arms program and says it is within its legal right to pursue peaceful programs for nuclear energy.

The Europeans are working to negotiate a trade-off under which Tehran would give up any effort that could be associated with nuclear weapons in return for economic and technological assistance and security guarantees. The U.S. so far has refused to hold direct talks with Iran.

Under Bush, American diplomatic efforts on Tehran have focused on urging the International Atomic Energy Agency -- the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog -- to bring Iran before the U.N. Security Council for alleged violations of the 1968 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Although the Security Council could impose sanctions against Iran, such action is considered unlikely, since negotiators France and Britain have veto power.

Still, there were clear signs Wednesday that the administration had not given up that goal. In Vienna, Reuters news agency reported that the U.S. delegate to the IAEA, Jackie Sanders, declared that the agency’s governing board had a “statutory obligation” to refer Iran to the council for possible sanctions.

Neoconservatives in the Bush administration and Republican Party have sought to reinforce the U.S. refusal to hold talks with Iran. More moderate policymakers have advocated talks.

Many Iranian foes of the government in Tehran also oppose such negotiations, which they fear Iran could use to delay meeting international demands.

“We’re racing against the nuclear clock,” said Alireza Jafarzadeh, a former spokesman for the National Council of Resistance in Iran.

The group, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, has exposed details of Iran’s nuclear program.

“The international community must act strongly and quickly on this,” Jafarzadeh said in Washington.

Indications of a shift came last week after Bush softened his language on the Europe-Iran talks, seeming to distance himself from his stance against engaging Tehran diplomatically.

Few believe Washington will join directly in the negotiations, but any U.S. support for them is considered significant. The Europeans have stressed that their efforts to encourage Tehran to give up efforts to produce enriched uranium -- which can be used to make nuclear weapons -- would be meaningful only with U.S. backing.

Iran reportedly wants security guarantees, help in gaining admittance to the World Trade Organization and modernization of its civil aviation fleet. U.S. support is considered crucial to any of those.

Said one European diplomat: “There are things we’re discussing that will never happen without a green light from Washington.”