QUESTION Mr. Hadley, Iran -- the question of negotiations between Europe and the Iranian government on suspending or eliminating their nuclear weapons development program. How will that topic come up in Europe? And what can the -- what can the President do to get the United States involved with that diplomatic effort?

HADLEY: Well, there's a lot of commonality between the United States and Europe on Iran, a lot of consensus about what Iran needs to do. It needs to give up the pursuit of nuclear weapons. Everybody is agreed on that. It needs to stop its sponsorship of terror, particularly with respect to the Palestinian areas and Hezbollah, because the activities of those groups is very much in the way of the positive development, we hope, between the Israeli and the Palestinians.

There is the treatment of their own people, which both we and the Europeans have talked about and that Condi talked about in her press availability with Chancellor Schroeder. So it will come up in one sense because there's a commonality on the agenda -- concern about Iran and a commonality about what Iran needs to do.

We've actually been very much involved on the nuclear issue. You may remember, this was managed for a long period of time in the IAEA Board of Governors -- 35 members; we, of course, are part of that, and we've been in active participation on that. It is true that the Europeans, the EU 3, have taken the lead in the recent conversations with Iran that resulted in the current agreement. We've been supportive of that effort -- the President has been supportive of that effort, and we would continue to do so. The real question, of course, is where we go on that arrangement, that it is -- basically temporarily freezes their enrichment activities, and what we need is a permanent cessation of their enrichment programs and any reprocessing activity.

That's what the Europeans are trying to seek. And I think the question is whether the Iranians are willing to go forward. And I think that's really the next thing that we need to see, is something from the Iranians about a willingness to go forward in the path that the EU 3 have described.

QUESTION Can I follow up on that?

QUESTION Would it be at the NATO Summit that the President would raise those concerns and issues? Where would that come up?

HADLEY: Well, I expect it will come up in a variety of discussions. You know, in some sense it's -- in many respects, it's the same group of players at NATO and at the EU, so I think it will come up probably in different ways in both of those forums. My guess is it's probably more likely to come up on the EU side.

QUESTION I just wanted to follow up on the President's statements on Israel, in relation to Iran, of course. What exactly constitutes a threat to Israel, since there has been this verbal threat by the Ayatollah? And at what point does the United States come to Israel's defense?

HADLEY: Well, I think the reality is that virtually all the countries in the region would view an Iran with nuclear weapons as a destabilizing factor in the region. And that's, of course, where we don't want to go, because that's a very difficult problem for all of us to manage. And that's, of course, why we've been engaged with the IAEA Board of Governors; that's why we have been supportive of the EU 3 effort, so that we don't have to face that eventuality.

QUESTION So the President said today he was hopeful that by the time he gets to Europe he'll be able to talk somewhat about the culpability that Syria may or may not have had in Monday's bombing. I'm wondering if you can tell us that there's been a conclusion that, at a minimum, the Syrians knew, had some advance notice of this, or anything you can share with us about the progress of that investigation.

HADLEY: We really don't know. The Lebanese authority are doing an inquiry. The President's statement -- the U.N. Security Council President's statement of earlier this week asked the Secretary General to review and, in some sense, oversee these events and report back to the Security Council. There may be efforts to expand the scope of the investigation. I think we're at the early stages. We just don't really know at this point.

QUESTION Could you elaborate a little bit on how the President might enlist France's help, with its special relationship in Lebanon, to contend with Syria, and separately, how the President will deal with Mr. Putin and Russia's planned sale of weapons to Syria?

HADLEY: We've actually been very much involved with the French government in connection with Lebanon. U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 was really an example of a very good collaboration between the United States, France, and other countries, as well. So it has been an area of close collaboration between the two of us, and I think it will continue to be so.

In terms of these reports of a Russian sale of SAM systems to Syria, obviously, we have some concerns about it. Syria, of course, continues to be on the list of countries that are state sponsors of terror. This is a particular time of hope in the Middle East, and we don't want to do anything that would destabilize the situation. So we have some concerns, and we've raised them with the Russian government in an appropriate way. And other countries have raised their concerns, as well. And we are hopeful and confident that the Russians will take them into account.

QUESTION Back to Iran for two quick questions. You say you're engaged with the EU 3. I think there's a sense from their end that they would like to see the United States do more, possibly get behind this idea of various incentives and such. Do you envision that the President will offer any sort of concrete support for that notion?

And secondly, Secretary Rice's comments about the totalitarian nature of the Iranian regime, the loathsome nature of it, was that based on any sort of new sense that you have of greater repression, or new intelligence on that? Or can you give us -- shed some light on where those comments rank?

HADLEY: I wouldn't accept your characterization of the comments she's made. I mean, what -- the President has said for some time that we stand, the American people stand on the side of those people in Iran who want greater freedom and democracy. And there's no secret. That's something I think we share with the Europeans, as well.

I think that in terms of the discussions that the EU 3 -- let me go back to that. And some of the things that give us pause about that, of course, are the last election for the Majilis, the efforts that were made to eliminate candidates that were not acceptable to the Iranian government. There have been some actions against opposition members, some actions against the press, if you look back over this last six months to a year. So while there's a trend in the region for greater freedom and democracy and participation by people, unfortunately, the trends in Iran seem to be going in the other way.

In terms of where the Europeans are in the discussion with the Iranians, you know there is an ongoing discussion talking about the kinds of opportunities that would be available to Iran to have expanded diplomatic, economic and political ties if they were to permanently cease their uranium enrichment program and give up any reprocessing. And the truth is you can tell from the statements that have been made by the Iranian government, the jury is out. We need to see where the Iranians are heading. That's the next thing we need to see.

QUESTION President Bush is the first American President who is going to Slovakia. Can you elaborate more what will be his message for Slovaks in Bratislava? And then I'm sure Slovak government and also EU will open American visa policy. What can we expect from President Bush?

HADLEY: Two things. One, obviously, he's coming with a message that the United States and Europe have a common agenda to advance freedom and democracy in the world. And it's -- the stop in the Slovak Republic is a nice opportunity for the President to remind Europe and the rest of the world of the progress we've made together in that part of the world. It's also an opportunity to pay tribute to the people of the Slovak Republic and also other countries in the region for the right choices they made in pursuing democracy and freedom and making the hard choices that those countries had to make as they moved out of communist regimes, and to really celebrate the progress we've made, and to acknowledge those men and women who were on the forefront of the cause of freedom in Central and Eastern Europe. And hopefully, by acknowledging their contribution, give some hope and support to those people who are advancing the cause of freedom elsewhere in the world.

QUESTION Your visa policy?

HADLEY: Yes, there will clearly be discussions about that. You heard a way forward that has been developed when the President met with President Kwasniewski, of Poland. We think that kind of way forward ought to be available to other countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and would put us on the road to putting the visa issue behind us.

Mr. JONES: Time for one more.

HADLEY: Yes, ma'am.

QUESTION Sir, you talk a lot about common ground and commonality.

HADLEY: Right.

QUESTION And certainly, the United States and Europe have common goals in a lot of areas, but isn't the problem that they have vastly different ideas about how to achieve those goals? And I'm thinking specifically here of China, Iran, and global warming. And do you expect any kind of resolution to come out, any kind of common approach to come out of these meetings?

HADLEY: I guess I wouldn't accept the proposition, vastly different, in Iran. Actually, I think we have a fairly coordinated approach on Iran with respect to the nuclear issue. We've worked very well in the IAEA Board of Governors; we've been supportive of the EU 3 Initiative. So I think, actually, we have a good convergence on the nuclear issues, and I think it's important for us to continue our dialogue with Iran, to continue to talk about their support for terror and other things.

Secondly, in terms of China, again, I think there is a lot of commonality in terms of China. Obviously, we have -- we all have an interest in China continuing to move in the direction of democracy and freedom and being a constructive member of the international community. We have common concerns about human rights. Yes, there is the issue of the EU arms embargo, what to do about that. But I think it will be approached in a very constructive spirit. The President has real concerns about it, as we've described. He will share those concerns with the Europeans. They will, obviously, have an opportunity to express their views. And he will listen.

And I think since we have a basic common set of overall objectives, I think we'll find a way forward that will be acceptable.

Mr. JONES: Thank you, very much.

HADLEY: Okay, thank you.