Iran signals warmer relations with the US

Rules out fresh talks on Iraq Russia hails Obama offer Ship not carrying arms

Russia hailed U.S. President Barack Obama's offer to hold talks with Iran (File)

BAGHDAD/MOSCOW (AlArabiya.net, Agencies)

Iran sent one of its warmest signals yet on Wednesday over prospects for improved relations with Washington, praising the election promises of President Barack Obama but at the same time ruling out any talks with the United States on Iraq because of the improved security situation.

"We look positively on the slogan that Obama raised in the elections. The world has really changed," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said through an Arabic interpreter at a news conference during a visit to neighboring Iraq.

In a break from the policy of former President George W. Bush, Obama has said he is willing to start talks with Iran, which Washington accuses of supporting terrorism, meddling in Iraq and seeking nuclear weapons, all charges Tehran denies.

The tone of Mottaki's remarks was warmer than many previous Iranian comments, which have tended to emphasize the burden on the U.S. administration to prove that any changes in its foreign policy would be genuine and not cosmetic. On Tuesday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran was ready to hold talks, provided they were held in an atmosphere of "mutual respect". Notably, Ahmadinejad did not mention tough preconditions for talks as he has in the past. But Iran's policy will not be decided by Ahmadinejad -- who faces a presidential election in June -- but by unelected Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of state in the Islamic Republic.

Rules out fresh talks on Iraq " Based on this, there is no place for such talks under the current circumstances " Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki Mottaki said on Wednesday there was no need for fresh talks with the United States on Iraq because of improved security in the country. "We think the situation is completely different now," Mottaki told a press conference during a visit to Baghdad. "We think the improvement in security conditions is the result of the will of Iraq's government and the fact that it has taken up its responsibilities," he said after talks with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari. "We are happy to say that the (Iraqi) government is quite capable of making the country completely safe," Mottaki said, asked to comment on offers by U.S. President Barack Obama's administration to hold talks with Iran. "Based on this, there is no place for such talks under the current circumstances," he said. "The Iraqi government is capable of providing security." The United States and arch-foe Iran have held three rounds of direct talks since May 2007 on security issues affecting Iraq.

Russia hails Obama offer " We expect that the United States, considering the fresh approach that seems noticeable in regard to Iran, will be able to make a more effective contribution in resolving these questions than in recent years " Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Russia on Wednesday hailed U.S. President Barack Obama's offer to hold talks with Iran, saying his "fresh approach" would help international efforts to end a six-year nuclear standoff with Tehran. At talks with EU officials, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov slammed the approach of ex-president George W. Bush and said Obama's offer to talk to Iran would help the six major powers trying to find a breakthough. He also said Russia was ready to offer greater help for Western operations in Afghanistan although this was dependent on the repair of NATO-Russia ties and "respect" for Moscow's status. "We expect that the United States, considering the fresh approach that seems noticeable in regard to Iran, will be able to make a more effective contribution in resolving these questions than in recent years," Lavrov said. Russia is among six powers dealing with the Iranian nuclear case, comprising the five permanent United Nations Security Council members and Germany.

Ship not carrying arms Israeli media reported the vessel was suspected of carrying weapons to arm Hezbollah or Hamas Meawhile Iran denied on Wednesday that a ship detained by Cyprus last month on its way from the Islamic Republic to Syria had been carrying weapons. A Cypriot source on Saturday said the ship appeared to be carrying weapon-related material from Iran prohibited under U.N. resolutions, saying that was the advice Cyprus received from a United Nations panel monitoring compliance of sanctions. The United States, which earlier boarded the ship in the Red Sea, said its navy found weapons on board which it could not confiscate for legal reasons. Asked about the ship, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi told a news conference: "What they initially said, that it was weaponry and so on, it is not true." Israeli media had reported the vessel was suspected of carrying weapons to arm Hezbollah in Lebanon or Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Iran is under U.N. and U.S. sanctions over its nuclear program, which Western powers suspect is aimed at making bombs but which Tehran is for generating electricity.