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Iranian FM Rules out Meeting With US Secretary of State
Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi on Saturday ruled out any meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell at an upcoming U.N.-sponsored meeting on Afghanistan in New York.
The United Nations is to hold a meeting grouping the six countries bordering Afghanistan, and Russia and the U.S.. A U.N. official has reportedly said that Kharazi and Powell would meet on November 12. That would be the first of its kind since Tehran and Washington severed diplomatic relations after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Speaking to reports upon return from visits to Malaysia, Indonesia and Japan, Kharazi ruled out the possibility of the meeting, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported. But it did not give further details.
During his three-day whirlwind East Asian tour, Kharazi focused his visits on consultations over the recent international developments and coordination of stances toward the ongoing Afghan crisis.
At a press conference on Thursday in Tokyo, the Iranian foreign minister did not rule out the possibility to normalize the Tehran-Washington ties, saying that Iran can have relations with all countries but the "Zionist regime"of Israel.
The New York Times has reported that Iran has offered to provide humanitarian aid to U.S. troops engaging in military strikes on Afghanistan.
The U.S. has promised in return that Iran's territorial integrity, including airspace, would be respected during the U.S.-led military attacks on Afghanistan.
The U.S. has been pounding the Afghan ruling Taliban militia since October 7 for harboring Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect of the September 11 terror attacks on Washington and New York.
Iran has condemned the terror attacks on the U.S., but also denounced the U.S.-led military strikes against Afghanistan.
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