Obama to Drop Uranium Precondition for Iran Nuclear Talks

The US and Europe are preparing to make a major concession to Iran to end the nuclear stalemate, according to American and European sources today.

In what amounts to a major policy shift, the Obama administration is set to drop a precondition for the start of negotiations on the nuclear issue - that Iran first suspend its uranium enrichment process.

The precondition has been the biggest stumbling block in efforts over the last few years to open talks. The Bush administration insisted upon it but Tehran adamantly refused.

An announcement is imminent of a location and date for the first direct talks between the US - alongside Europe - with Iran on the nuclear issue.

Negotiations have been given added urgency by threats by the new Israeli government, led by Binyamin Netanyahu, to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities to prevent it achieving a nuclear weapons capability. Israel predicts Iran could reach this point by the autumn.

The Israeli president, Shimon Peres, in a radio interview on Sunday, urged the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to enter into the talks proposed by Barack Obama. If Ahmadinejad failed to back down over the nuclear issue, "we'll strike him", Peres said.

The US, Europe and Israel claim Iran is intent on building a nuclear weapon and that this is unacceptable. Tehran denies this, claiming its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only, to help generate electricity.

Obama, during the presidential election campaign, promised to offer direct talks with Iran without preconditions. On becoming president in January, he ordered a review of Iran policy, which has not yet been completed, and has sent a video message to Iranians last month offering a "new beginning".

US and European sources said today that dropping the precondition was one of a number of ideas being discussed in private. But they hinted that it was likely to happen. One said that, unlike the Bush administration, the Obama administration has so far set no preconditions. Another said they might as well drop the precondition given the failure of the Bush administration to make any progress on the Iranian front.

The concession means Iran would be able to continue with uranium enrichment, an essential part of achieving a weapons capability but which also has a civilian purpose, while talks got underway.

The European foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, last week offered Iran the chance to sit down with the US for direct talks, along with Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China. Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, was reported yesterday to have agreed to the talks.

The Tehran Times said that Jalili, who spoke to Solana yesterday, welcomed the talks, saying all parties should "take account of the realities" and recent developments in the world.

A US state department official said today he could not confirm Iran's response but the US remained ready to meet Iran. "These discussions provide an opportunity for serious engagement on how to break the log-jam of recent years and work in a co-operative manner to resolve the outstanding international concerns about Iran's nuclear program," he said.

A British official declined to comment on the dropping of the precondition but said: "Britain in general welcomes the direction of the travel of the US policy towards Iran."

There is growing concern in Washington over the Israeli threats to take unilateral action. Israel proposed such an attack last autumn but the Bush administration vetoed it. Obama would almost certainly do the same and the question is whether Israel is prepared to defy him.

Peres said that a strike against Iran could not happen without support from the United States."We certainly cannot do it alone without the US, and we definitely can't go against the US," Peres said.

Iran is so far down the road towards achieving a nuclear weapons capability that it is increasingly harder for the US to get Tehran to suspend its nuclear activities. The best that Obama may secure is a fudge in which Iran has the know-how but stops just short of building nuclear weapons and agrees to intensive United Nations weapons inspections.

On a smaller scale, relations between the US and Iran were strained today when Iran put a US journalist on trial behind closed doors.

The US has pressed for the release of Roxana Saberi, 31, who is accused of spying.

A judiciary spokesman, Ali Reza Jamshidi, said the court will issue a verdict within the next two to three weeks.