US: Committed to talks with Iran over nuclear programme

The United States on Monday acknowledged deep mistrust with Iran but reaffirmed its commitment to negotiations over the Islamic republic's controversial nuclear program, as fresh talks are set to begin later this week. "The history of mistrust between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran is deep, and it will not be erased overnight," White House spokesman Jay Carney said at a regular press briefing. "But what we are doing now is not about trust," he said. "We're engaged in serious and substantive negotiations that offer the possibility that we can stop the advance of Iran's nuclear program, gain more transparency into their nuclear activities, and negotiate a long-term, comprehensive solution that resolves the international community's concerns about Iran's nuclear program." Iran had a fresh round of talks with the United States, China, Russia, France and Britain plus Germany, the so-called P5+1, in Geneva on Oct. 15-16, and agreed to meet again there on Nov. 7-8. Tehran insists on the peaceful nature of its nuclear program, while the West alleges the republic is making nuclear bombs. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday that he was not "optimistic" about the ongoing nuclear talks with the major powers, and that the United States "cannot be trusted" as it is the "enemy" of the republic. Also on Monday, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said, " I think we've all been clear that this is tough and that there's a deep history of mistrust here. I think you saw that today with some of the protests we saw in Iran." Iranians rallied across the country marking the 34th anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran. Iranian students stormed the U.S. embassy on Nov. 4, 1979 and held its personnel hostage for 444 days, which led to the severing of diplomatic ties in 1980 and decades of tense relations. "So obviously, it's not easy, but we have an opportunity here and an obligation to see where this diplomatic path might lead, because it's all of our preference that this be resolved diplomatically," she said at a regular news briefing. She said that the Obama administration is seeking a pause by Congress in slapping additional sanctions on Iran. "We're not at this point rolling back any existing sanctions," she stressed. "Let's be clear that Iran will have to take credible, verifiable steps before we discuss any limited sanctions relief."