US: Iran standoff with IAEA 'unfortunate and disappointing'

WASHINGTON-The White House accused Iran Wednesday of an "unfortunate and disappointing" failure to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog agency and effectively rejecting a US offer for high-level talks."The Iranian government's failure to comply with the IAEA and UN is unfortunate and disappointing," spokesman Gordon Johndroe said after the latest International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on Tehran.The agency cited scant progress in its investigation of Tehran's suspect nuclear program and said the Islamic republic was defying UN demands to freeze uranium enrichment, which can be a key step to building atomic weapons.Johndroe noted that Iranian compliance could unlock a package of economic and diplomatic incentives-including an offer for talks between US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her counterpart."The door is open if Iran will suspend its enrichment activity, but they don't seem to want to walk through it," he said in a brief statement.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081119/pl_afp/iaeanuclearpoliticsiranuswhouse_081119205039;_ylt=AtU1Firb2AGb2C.HG7LnQW2bOrgF

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