U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
speaks at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos,
Switzerland, Jan. 23, 2008. Some 2,500 people, including business and
political leaders as well as heads of international organizations, are
gathering at this famous Alpine ski resort for the five-day forum which
opened on Wednesday. (Xinhua Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
RicDAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- The United
States believes there are no permanent enemies so it is possible for it to
have better relations with countries like Iran and the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea (DPRK), U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on
Wednesday.
"I can assure you that America has no permanent
enemies, because we harbor no permanent hatreds," Rice said in a speech to the
World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos.
Rice said even relations between the United States
and Iran could move toward normalization, although there has been 29 years of
hostility between the two countries.
"If Iran would suspend its uranium enrichment and
reprocessing activities ...we could begin negotiations, and we could work over
time to build a new, more normal relationship," Rice told political and business
leaders at the meeting.
The U.S.-Iran relationship could be one that is
"defined not by fear and mistrust, but growing cooperation, expanding trade and
exchange, and the peaceful management of differences," she said.
Rice expressed the belief that the problem concerning
Iran's nuclear program could be resolved through diplomacy.
She said the permanent members of the U.N. Security
Council plus Germany remain united on the Iranian nuclear issue.
"We do not want Iran to become a nuclear weapons
power, and we will continue to hold Iran to its international obligations," she
said.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
delivers her opening speech at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss
Alpine resort town of Davos Jan. 23, 2008.(Xinhua/AFP Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
According to Rice, the United States can also have a
better relationship with the DPRK if the issue involving the country's nuclear
program is completely resolved.
"It is because America desires no permanent enemies
that we can imagine a better relationship with North Korea, and we are working
to build it in the Six Party Talks," Rice said.
Rice stressed, however, that the DPRK must meet more
obligations than disabling its Yongbyon nuclear facility, which include the
provision of a complete and accurate declaration of all nuclear programs and
activities.
Rice also stressed the importance of relationship
between the United States and Russia despite differences between the two
countries on various issues.
"No one can imagine a world in which the absence of
U.S.-Russian cooperation will make any of our challenges easier to solve," Rice
said.
Rice rejected as "hyperbolic nonsense" speculations
that there could be a new Cold War between Washington and Moscow.
"Our relations today are fundamentally different than
they were when all we shared was the desire to avoid mutual annihilation," she
said.
According to Rice, the United States and Russia are
now "working constructively on many issues of mutual interest - from
counter-proliferation, to counter terrorism, to the pursuit of peace in the
Middle East."
"We are determined to remember this, even when we
hear unwise and irresponsible rhetoric from Russia that harkens back to an
earlier time," she said.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier (3rdL) gestures as he poses for a family picture with his
counterparts Sergei Lavrov of Russia (L-R), U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, Yang Jiechi of China, Bernard Kouchner of France, David
Miliband of Great Britain and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in
Berlin, January 22, 2008, before their meeting on
Iran. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
BERLIN, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Foreign Ministers from the
United States, Germany, China, France, Britain and Russia have agreed on the
major points of a U.N. resolution on the Iran nuclear issue, German Foreign
Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said here on Tuesday.
Steinmeier made the remarks at a press conference at the
interval of the six-nation foreign minister's meeting on the Iran nuclear issue,
which started here Tuesday afternoon. Full story
TEHRAN, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that his country will continue its nuclear
program, one day after a meeting of six major powers in Berlin agreed on the
major points of a UN resolution on the Iran nuclear issue.
"The Iranian nation will continue the way in pursuing our
rights within the framework of international laws," Iran's state television
quoted Ahmadinejad as saying. Full story
