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ShareWASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be "polite but firm" with her Iranian counterpart if they cross paths this week at a conference on Iraq, US President George W. Bush said on Monday.
Rice and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki were both to attend the conference on Iraq security scheduled to be held in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, Thursday and Friday, and Rice said she did not rule out a meeting.
But Bush dampened any speculation on a breakthrough in ties between the two countries, which have not had diplomatic ties in more than a quarter century and are at odds over Tehran's nuclear programme.
He told a news conference Rice "would be polite but firm in reminding the representative of the Iranian government that there is a better way forward for the Iranian people".
Speaking after a summit with leaders of the European Union, Bush said he hoped Iran would feel the pressure of US efforts to rally world opposition to Iran's suspected nuclear weapons ambitions.
"If, in fact, there is a conversation, it will be one that says that if the Iranian government wants to have a serious conversation with the US and others, they ought to give up their enrichment program in a verifiable fashion," Bush said. "We will sit at the table with them along with our European partners and Russia. That is what she will tell them."
