U.S. Relations with the People's Republic of China (2006)

U.S. Department of State

U.S. Policy Toward Iran

Ambassador James F. Jeffrey, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
Foreign Press Center Roundtable
Washington, DC
November 13, 2006

11:OO A.M. EST

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QUESTION: And how do you reconcile all those?

AMBASSADOR JEFFREY: If you mean reconcile -- prioritize them. I mean, to me I would say that Norway is a country that does not oppress its people, does not interfere militarily in its neighbors and doesn't pursue nuclear weapons, so these goals of ours are not irreconcilable within a given regime. They may irreconcilable with that particular person. So I think -- yeah, I think that the issue is the priorities in the -- and the question of what clout do we bring to the table.

First of all, we are engaging the international community, particularly on the nuclear issue, and we work very closely with France, Germany, Britain and as closely as we can with the Russians and the Chinese on this. That's an important factor. And I would say it shouldn't be discounted. I interpret the attack that the Iranians just launched on the UN Security Council as an example that this is having an effect. They didn't expect this. They didn't think that we would all hang together. So that's exerting pressure on them.

Same thing with Iraq. The Iranians may want to tweak us in Iraq, but the last thing they can afford is an Iraq that turns badly south on them because chaos in a neighboring state, breakdown in authority, groups looking for different identities and such, is not necessarily a good thing for Iran or for any country on the border, certainly not for Turkey, not for Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Kuwait, and Iran shares an interest.

Now, there has been a difference, I would say, in recent Iranian pronouncements and activities particularly associated with Ahmadi-Nejad, but I cannot be specific enough to blame him personally. But certainly of late on the issue of Iraq and what we saw earlier, where there was a certain general understanding, they obviously have influence with the Shia, and we obviously have interest with the Shia, but they also have interest with the Kurds as do we. And I think that it is not inconceivable that we can find a mutual interest in Iraq just as we have found one in Afghanistan by and large with some exceptions with them. So I wouldn't rule that out. And as I said, these other objectives are difficult to attain. The question of ways and means is a legitimate one that I can't give you a particularly good answer for, but I don't think they're irreconcilable (inaudible).

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