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Q: -- is the President going to talk to Iran tomorrow, and to what extent -- what do you hope is going to come out of the week in terms of progress in terms of diplomacy on Iraq?

Mr. Hadley: I don't -- I think the process in Iran is pretty well said. As you know, Secretary Rice is going to do a stock-taking with her counterparts in the so-called P5 plus one. This is the group of countries that have been looking at this. It will be part of the ongoing process of coming together behind a resolution in the Security Council that would involve sanctions on Iran for their failure to meet the requirements the international community has set out in the last resolution.

So that process will be ongoing. It won't certainly conclude over the next two days, it will be an ongoing process. And, of course, in parallel with that, Javier Solana, the EU representative -- he's continuing to have his conversations with Larajani for the Iranian side. Again, that process continues.

I don't think there will be any direct contact with the Iranian delegations. Those are really the two tracks on which we are pursuing our Iranian policy at this point.

Q: There was a lot of talk over the weekend about the EU3 meeting with Iran separately without the United States, and then they would agree to some sort of suspension of their uranium enrichment process, and then the United States would come to the table. What do you think is going to come out of that?

Mr. Hadley: The question is there's some speculation in the press that the EU3 might meet with Iran, talk about a suspension, and once that was achieved, the U.S. could join the talks. Look, the conversation with Solana are ongoing with Larajani. Obviously, it's useful for those conversations to be somewhat confidential. The framework of those conversations is very clear. We've all said -- the EU3, the U.N., the IAEA -- we have all said we need to see a verifiable suspension of the enrichment program, and then the United States would be prepared to join the negotiations to talk about the proposal that the EU3 plus the United States, China and Russia put on the table. And that is a proposal that, if accepted by Iran, will have a lot of benefits for the Iranian people in terms of bringing them prosperity and a better way of life.

So we would hope that Iran would see their way clear to agree to a verifiable suspension so we can then begin to negotiate the details of that broader path.

Q: Is that likely?

Mr. Hadley: We don't know.

Q: -- you said verifiable suspension. Can it be a temporary suspension and still have talks?

Mr. Hadley: That's what it is, is a verifiable suspension so you can have discussions. One of the issues in those discussions will be what happens to their enrichment program over the long-term. We've been very clear what our view is on that. But it would clearly be -- a permanent solution to this problem, is what you negotiate about. So what we've always said was not permanent suspension; what we've said is, a verifiable suspension so we can then have a discussion. And you know the proposal that we put down to the Iranians has a lot of ideas in it about how they can meet their enrichment needs in a way that would reassure the international community that is not a route to a nuclear weapon. That would be a subject of the negotiations.

Q: I just want to make sure I'm clear. It could be a temporary suspension. That is what you're saying would be okay, and that would --

Mr. Hadley: Look, you know, what we've said is a verifiable suspension so that talks can get started. And that's what we have in mind. There is an issue of, on a permanent basis, what happens to the enrichment activity that Iran is doing, and that is an issue that is addressed in the proposal we all put down to the Iranians. I'm not trying to make news here. I don't think there's any news here. It always was a verifiable suspension.

Q: On a temporary basis?

Mr. Hadley: It doesn't say termination, it says suspension - you suspend.

Q: It seems like that's what the Iranians have been saying -- we'll do a two-month suspension or something. And if you're saying that's okay, that's -- maybe Condi has already been making that point.

Mr. Hadley: The point is, the forum for that conversation is Solana and Larajani. And it's very important that we have only one channel of the discussions on these issues. If that is a proposal that the Iranians have, they should make it to Solana, in the conversations with Solana and Larajani so that we can have this conversation.

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