Rice Wraps Up Conference with Iraq's Neighbors

Copyright © 2007 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

MELISSA BLOCK, host:

This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.

ROBERT SIEGEL, host:

And I'm Robert Siegel.

A conference on the future of Iraq wrapped up in Egypt today. And perhaps the biggest news is what didn't happened. There was no meeting between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Iran's foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki. Lower-level U.S. and Iranian officials did meet on the sidelines of the conference. And afterward, Rice and Mottaki traded comments at separate news conferences.

NPR's Peter Kenyon reports from Sharm el-Sheikh.

PETER KENYON: Officials had said the likeliest meeting point for Rice and Mottaki was at a dinner last night, but Mottaki skipped the event. When asked about it today, Mottaki suggested, without going into detail, that his Islamic sensibilities have been offended by some of the arrangements at the dinner.

Mr. MANOUCHEHR MOTTAKI (Foreign Minister, Iran): (Through translator) I attended yesterday's lunch and this morning's breakfast, but at dinner last night, because of my Islamic standards, something was wrong with it. I offered my apologies to the Egyptian foreign minister. There was no other reason.

KENYON: The Associated Press quoted U.S. officials as saying they thought Mottaki didn't show because he wasn't prepared to meet informally with Rice. During today's session, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, did hold an informal but substantive meeting with Iranian officials.

Secretary Rice said the topics were limited to Iraq, how to promote its security and future stability. At one point in her news conference, Rice was asked if she'd been chasing the Iranian diplomat and why she thought he hadn't made an effort to meet with her.

Ms. CONDOLEEZZA RICE (Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State): Well, you could ask him why he didn't make an effort. Look, I'm not given to chasing anyone...

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. RICE: ...but I thought that we've had a very good conference here and the interactions that I've had have been excellent.

KENYON: Rice said the administration has no desire to have difficult relations with Iran or any nation. She said differences dating back 27 years to the Islamic Revolution in Iran had made discussions difficult but not impossible.

Ms. RICE: We have been very clear that if Iran is prepared to accept the obligations that have been placed upon it by the international community, not by the United States, to suspend its enrichment activities so that the international community can be certain that Iran will not seek a nuclear weapon. We are prepared to change 27 years of policy and engage with Iran on a broad range of issues.

KENYON: Mottaki's news conference was laced with historical references to what he called the arrogant unilateral policies of the U.S. He said Washington needs to take a hard look at what he called its failed policies in Afghanistan, Lebanon and in particular in Iraq.

Mr. MOTTAKI: (Through translator) Iraq is a bitter tragedy both during the Baathist dictatorship under Saddam Hussein and also during the years of occupation by foreign forces. In recent years, the occupation of Iraq is the principal reason for the complex situation we find in Iraq.

KENYON: Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Iraq has been doing all it could to reduce the tension in the U.S.-Iranian relationship because, he said, that is one of the obstacles making it harder to stabilize his country. He said it was positive that Rice and Mottaki were in the same room this week but more progress would have to wait.

Mr. HOSHYAR ZEBARI (Foreign Minister, Iraq): This is a process. I think it needs more work but it is in my country's interest really to see a reduction of this tension.

KENYON: For the moment, Iraqi officials are pleased with the financial and political support they received at this conference. But they're disappointed that the tensions between two of their key allies - America and Iran - remained unchanged.

Peter Kenyon, NPR News, Sharm el-Sheikh.

Copyright © 2007 National Public Radio®. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.