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Q Scott, you said this morning that for Iran, ascension to the WTO is now on the table in exchange for something, presumably ultimately abandoning their nuclear weapons designs. What's changed the President's mind? Why is he now prepared to maybe take such a step, when Europeans have been at this for some time, and wanting the U.S. to get more engaged?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, you're asking me to speculate about decisions that haven't been made. And I want to correct you, I don't think that's exactly what I said this morning. What I said this morning was what we had indicated last week, as well, that the President is considering ideas that were discussed last week in Europe for moving forward on our efforts to get Iran to end its pursuit of nuclear weapons, and abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions.
Q That's one of the options. I think we all know that's one of the options.
MR. McCLELLAN: There are ideas that have been discussed publicly by the Europeans. The President had very good discussions with our European friends about how we can move forward toward our shared goal of getting Iran to abandon its nuclear weapons program. And so the --
Q Well, but the question is what's changed, because, I mean, all of this was -- has been in place for some time. It didn't just take going to meet the Europeans face-to-face for him to really be convinced of this. So I'm trying to get a sense of what has changed in the President's mind, that he is willing to potentially go down a different road.
MR. McCLELLAN: We have always supported the efforts by our European friends to get Iran to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions. We want to see them succeed in those efforts. And we have seen that over the last several months that Iran is now providing more information to the International Atomic Energy Agency. They're providing greater access to the International Atomic Energy Agency. That is an organization which we are a member of, and we work very closely with all the other 30-some members of that organization, in addition to working with our European friends.
The President had very good discussions last week. The European-3, as they are referred to, have continued to have discussions with Iranian authorities over the course of the last year. Those discussions have been moving forward. And so we have been discussing our concerns with Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons, in addition to our concerns about Iran's behavior in general, its behavior when it comes to supporting terrorism, and its behavior when it comes to refusing to allow its own people to have the freedoms that they seek.
And I think there's a broader recognition on the part of the international community that the concerns are not only about their pursuit of nuclear weapons, but their treatment of their own people and their support for terrorism.
Q I'm sorry, I'm just trying to pin you down. It's not clear to me in that answer what has happened that's convinced the President to stand closer to the EU-3 strategy than he had previously.
MR. McCLELLAN: We've always stayed in close contact with our European friends on these issues. Like I said, we want to see their efforts succeed. We all have a shared goal that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon. That's something we all share. And we want to make sure that Iran abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions.
And we've been supportive of those efforts. We've continued to stay in close contact with them. The President had a number of meetings last week where we discussed these issues. We talked about the progress that has been made in some of those discussions. And we talked about how we can move forward to accomplish that shared goal.
And so the President was very much in a listening mode during some of those meetings. He listened to some of the ideas for how we can move forward together, and the President is now considering some of those ideas that were discussed. I'm not going to speculate about any decisions that have yet to be made at this point. I think it's something we can talk further about once decisions are made. But that's where it stands at this point.
Q Can I follow up on that?
MR. McCLELLAN: Tom, did you have something?
Q Yes. You seem to indicate a flexibility, in terms of incentives, but is anything off the table? For instance, one of the suggestions was that the United States participate directly in these negotiations, joining the three European countries. Is that something that is being considered, or is that off the table?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think the President addressed that last week. We need to keep the focus on Iran. It's their behavior that needs to change. Iran's behavior needs to change when it comes to their interest in nuclear weapons. Iran's behavior needs to change when it comes to the treatment of their own people and their aspirations to have more of a say over their own government; their aspirations for greater --
Q That doesn't involve --
MR. McCLELLAN: -- for greater freedoms. But the President addressed this issue on a couple of occasions just last week. Nothing has changed, in terms of his view on that issue. And we can sit here and try to go through hypothetical decisions that have yet to be made, but I think it's best, let's let those decisions be made and then we can discuss it at that point.
Q But in terms of the U.S. participating directly in the talks, is that something that's under review, as well, as any other things?
MR. McCLELLAN: The President addressed that last week, and there's no change in terms of what he said last week on that.
Go ahead, Wendell.
Q How much was the President -- how much did it play a part in the President's thinking about this President's apparent openness to incentives that European countries convinced him that they, too, believe that it's intolerable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon? That's one. And the second question is, the IAEA is about to give what one official of the agency calls a modestly positive report -- a report card on Iran tomorrow, in Vienna. Does the U.S., as a member of the board, agree with that?
MR. McCLELLAN: Agree with what?
Q That Iran should get a modestly positive report card?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I mean, let's let the report come out and then we can talk about that report at that time. Those discussions -- they're meeting right now and having discussions. We have representatives that are there on behalf of the United States government. I'm not going to jump ahead of what has yet to be reported at this point.
Q All right. The President's decision-making then, was it -- was it swayed by Europe convincing him that they basically share a common agreement --
MR. McCLELLAN: Let me make clear that the policy is the same. We all have a shared goal of making sure Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon. That's something we all share. We're all speaking with the same voice. Iran needs to abide by its international obligations. They need to come clean and they need to end their pursuit of nuclear weapons. We've made that very clear. What we are doing is continuing to talk with our European friends about the best way forward for addressing this issue and accomplishing our shared goal. And those are discussions that were had at length last week with representatives -- with the leaders of those countries who are involved in those discussions with Iran. We very much support their efforts. But the focus needs to be on Iran and its behavior, and that's where the focus needs to remain.
Q One more. Before the trip, Ambassador Bruton said that the idea of taking Iran to the U.N. Security Council over this is really not an option. Did the President hear that from European leaders last week?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we are still in the early diplomatic stages of this effort. We've expressed our views when it comes to Iran's continued defiance of its international obligations in the past, and our support for it being referred to the Security Council.
But the President went last week to Europe, had very good discussions about a number of areas where we can work together on a common agenda, first and foremost spreading the advance of -- spreading democracy and freedom. And when it comes to Iran, there are a number of discussions about where we stand with regards to Iran and its interest in nuclear weapons. And there was a lot of discussion about how we move forward together on our shared goal. And the President is thinking through some of the ideas that were mentioned last week, and thinking about what the next steps are for how we move forward to accomplish that shared goal. That's where we stand on this point.
Go ahead, I'm sorry.
Q I'm not hearing an answer to my question.
MR. McCLELLAN: Go ahead.
Q Did the President hear from Europeans that he really doesn't have the option of taking Iran before the U.N. Security Council? The support is not there to impose tougher sanctions.
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think that that's been addressed in previous International Atomic Energy Agency meetings, and they would be the ones that would make that referral. What we're doing right now is talking about how we move forward to accomplish this shared goal, and what Iran needs to do. The focus needs to remain on Iran and its behavior, and that's where our focus will remain. We're going to continue working very closely with our European friends to accomplish this shared goal.
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Q Scott, when you were discussing Iran before, the first time I heard you say that you thought that Iran was beginning to comply more fully with the IAEA. On the other hand, over the weekend we've all been hearing that they only turned over documents relating to their 1987 acquisition when confronted once again with evidence. How do you square these two positions? Do you see a change in their --
MR. McCLELLAN: Our view is that we expect full compliance. You have seen --
Q And you're seeing greater compliance?
MR. McCLELLAN: -- some steps taken, where they are starting to provide more information to the International Atomic Energy Agency, and where they're starting to provide greater access. There is much more that needs to be done. It's very clear what they need to do to live up to their international obligations.
Q And does that include, in your mind, opening up all military sites to foreign inspection?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think that they've indicated that they would provide some access to the International Atomic Energy Agency. We want to see full compliance and full transparency when it comes to their nuclear weapons program.
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Q Scott, can we go back to Iran for a second. Apparently, the deal that Russia made with Iran to sell Iran nuclear fuel is on, at least, a temporary hold. The press report said that a meeting with the President and Russia's Putin didn't go very well, that the President was not able to talk him out of the deal. And, yet, since it is on hold, have there been further talks --
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I don't know that that's an accurate description of their meeting, first of all. I'm not sure how much that issue actually came up in the discussions.
Q Has there been any attempt, then, on the part of the President since Europe, or anybody else in the administration to convince Russia not to go through with that deal to sell uranium to Iran?
MR. McCLELLAN: I don't have any update beyond what we've said previously. Russia has previously assured us that no nuclear fuel should be delivered to Iran until Iran comes into compliance with its international obligations and that any spent nuclear fuel must be returned to Russia. They've previously provided those assurances to us. And we've also made it clear it's important that Iran ratify and adhere to the additional protocol of the International Atomic Energy Agency. We believe the fuel take-back is important to reducing any proliferation concerns, and Russia has worked to build such protections into its agreement with Iran. So that's something that they have previously assured us about.
We have continuing concerns, as we have publicly stated, about Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program. We've expressed those concerns publicly. Russia is someone that shares the concern of the international community that Iran should not be permitted to acquire a nuclear weapon. We are all working together toward that shared goal.
And that's what you're seeing in these discussions that took place last week. That's what you're seeing in our consideration of some of the ideas that were brought forward by our European friends for how we move forward toward that shared goal. Ultimately it's going to be on Iran to change its behavior and end its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
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Q Is the administration concerned or anxious that Russian -- the Russian deal with Iran on the fuel and -- nuclear fuel and Russia's sale of missiles to Syria is hampering western efforts to put pressure on both countries?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, in terms of the agreement with Iran on the nuclear fuel that would be provided to the Bushehr reactor, we're still waiting to learn about the details of that agreement. That's why I pointed out earlier today that Russia had provided assurances to us about how they would go about that agreement. And I think that's important to note when we're talking about this issue. But you can understand our skepticism when it comes to Iran's nuclear program, because Iran has vast amounts of oil. And we don't see a need for Iran to develop such a broad civilian nuclear program. That's why we are concerned that they are trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of that civilian nuclear program.
Q So there is a concern, then, that the fuel deal could, in some way, inhibit --
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, but Russia talked about the protections that would be built into the agreement, that -- and that's why I said that fuel being taken back to Russia is important to providing protections against that fuel being used for purposes other than what it's intended for.
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