. . .

CHANCELLOR SCHROEDER: (In German) (inaudible) We have now spent one hour very intensely conversing with one another and as you might imagine, international topics were the dominant ones on our agenda. We have, as you might imagine, addressed the situation in Iraq. We have discussed this topic at length and we very strongly agree that what the country now needs is a perspective towards the course of democracy and stability for its future. And we are very much agreed on this purpose and on this being the important point, irrespective of what one thought about the military intervention in Iraq in the first place. I have very much said that Germany is strongly ready within what I have already outlined in previous statements to help Iraq to get towards this stable and hopefully democratic development.

Germany is already involved in producing homegrown, as it were, security staff in the field of policing and military for Iraq. We are running these programs in the Emirates and I have declared the country's readiness to not just continue with these projects, but, if desired, to also expand upon them.

We have a lot of experience with the building of functional institutions for countries. I'm not just talking about ministries, but I'm also talking about institutions for civil areas, as well. And this is a kind of assistance that we would like to make available to the Iraqi government if it then happens to be desired.

I very much am of the opinion, and we both, I think, know that the international community of states is now called upon to come in and help, and Germany certainly will do so. And I hope we can be effectively helping to avoid redundancies and duplication of effort in doing so.

We have also then addressed the subject of Afghanistan. The United States of America have always recognized the fact that Germany, when it comes to Afghanistan, is making a proper contribution. We are actively involved in training police and security forces; we are actively helping with providing stability and security within the country. We are doing this right now and we will continue to do this in the future, and Madam Secretary, as well as the United States President, have both expressed their recognition of this fact and we are certainly not going to move off this chosen course.

Of course, we have then proceeded to address the subject of Iran, as well. Here we are very much in agreement that it is important that Iran does have the right to civilian utilization of nuclear power, but we are very, very outspokenly agreed on the fact that they must not have the potential of a nuclear weapon whatsoever. Germany, France and Great Britain are absolutely ready to do everything and anything to come to a good solution for this problem and we very much do our best. We do everything and anything -- I can only repeat this -- to come to a political and diplomatic solution to that effect, and I think the steps taken so far have been good and right steps to that effect.

Finally, I have very much expressed the hope, and I think there was also quite a bit of resonance when I was emphasizing this, that we will now use the opportunity that there seems to be to nudge the Israelis and Palestinians and their conflict towards a solution. And the United States of America, with their huge potential when it comes to this, will certainly try to use the momentum that we now think we perceive. Germany and the Europeans obviously are also going to do their bit and we very much hope we can use this momentum because we feel it is in the air a little bit at this point in time.

And as a last point, we certainly also addressed the subject of the upcoming visit of the President of the United States, George Walker Bush, to Germany. I'm obviously very much looking forward to him coming on the 23rd of February.

And just by the way, I've obviously said an open and honest congratulations on the new job when the Secretary arrived.

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you. Thank you very much, Chancellor. And I want to thank you very much for welcoming me here in my first trip to Germany as Secretary of State. This is going to be a bit of whirlwind tour that I am on through Europe and to Israel. I very much enjoyed the opportunity to stop here and to share ideas and to discuss and have a dialogue about how we might move forward on the historic opportunities before us.

I would also like to thank Foreign Minister Fischer for traveling to Washington recently, and look forward to seeing you, Chancellor, and the foreign minister when we return with the President in a few weeks.

The United States and Germany, of course, share deep values and a deep commitment to one another built on the testing of history and built on the fact that we were able, through the strength of our alliance and the strength of our values, to contribute greatly to the tremendous changes that we have seen that led to the building of a Europe, whole, free and at peace.

Now is the time for our diplomacy to put our alliance to work in the service of great goals and great opportunities that stand before us. We talked about the opportunity to support the people of Iraq who on Sunday demonstrated that they are prepared to sacrifice. They are prepared to face down terrorists. They are prepared to set aside fear and their past to try and build a new and free society. And those of us who are fortunate enough to be on the right side of history's divide, in terms of freedom, have an obligation to help them. And I thank you, Chancellor, for the things that Germany is already doing in the police training in the UAE and on your offer to deepen and continue to help the Iraqi people in this way.

Thank you, too, for all of the work in Afghanistan, which, again, is a country in which the people are demonstrating that they are prepared to try and leave their past behind and move to a better future.

I was pleased to have an opportunity to share with the Chancellor our thinking about the opportunities in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to try and bring some easing of that conflict and eventually its resolution. I will go soon to Israel and to the Palestinian territories, and I look forward, Chancellor, to continuing our dialogue on that very important issue.

And we did have an extensive discussion also of Iran, and the unity of purpose and message that we need to Iran, so that Iran does not use the access that countries in good standing in the Non-proliferation Treaty are afforded to civilian nuclear power, to use that cover to build a nuclear weapon.

The Iranians need to be in compliance with their international obligations, and we have very good cooperation and discussion with our EU-3 colleagues on a solid message to the Iranians that that is a necessity.

Finally, Chancellor, let me say that the President looks forward to coming here, to meeting you in Mainz, and to continuing to deepen our cooperation, to opening a new chapter in U.S.-German relations as we move to take advantage of the historic opportunities before us.

CHANCELLOR SCHROEDER: (in German) Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. It's time for questions if you would like to put them.

QUESTION: Thank you very much Chancellor, Madam Secretary. Andrea Mitchell from NBC News.

On the subject of Iran, to both of you, Chancellor Schroeder, the Secretary and other American officials have certainly made it clear that the United States wants to support Iranians who oppose their regime; and, in fact, they have not explicitly ruled out "regime change in Iran."

Do you have concerns that the United States is overtly or covertly encouraging regime change in Iran, and do you think that this, in fact, will diminish the effectiveness of the European initiative for denuclearization of Iran?

And Madam Secretary, if you could comment, there have been a number of opportunities where you've been asked about regime change, and we're not talking necessarily about military options. But what is the position of the U.S. Government regarding regime change in Iran? Thank you.

CHANCELLOR SCHROEDER: I fear I do need translation. (Laughter.)

(In German) Not at all, if you don't mind me saying. No, no, absolutely not. And I have listened to the President's address, most obviously, and eagerly. And I have taken from it that the President's heart is where it should be, namely with the democrats, irrespective of what country we're talking about, just by the way.

But I couldn't agree more, actually, that I think we are not, by no means, discussing here whether anybody is pro-democracy or not pro-democracy. We very much are. What we are, indeed, discussing is the fact, what tools should we ideally use to get to this desired state of having democratic circumstances in a country. And I think that is a discussion that, I think, hopefully, will continue. So I do not fear that there could be any kind of negative effect on the European Three. Far rather, I think it's an important move, and the right one.

SECRETARY RICE: First of all, let me just associate myself with what the Chancellor has said. The American President must speak as should the German Chancellor, and as he has and others, about the fact that peoples everywhere, including in Iran, have the right to have their aspirations acknowledged and that it will -- it should be that the Iranians enjoy the freedom that they deserve.

The behavior of the Iranian Government, both internally and externally, is of concern to an international community that is increasingly unified around the view that values matter; that the Middle East is a place that is in need of reform and change; and, I see no difficulty in continuing to say that and continuing to work for that.

CHANCELLOR SCHROEDER: (In German) There are some questions on the German side.

QUESTION: (In German) I would like to return to the up-and-coming visit of the President to Germany, and they have chosen Mainz as a place. I would like to know how far the preparations for the visit have gone by now; is there any such thing as a program that we could lay our hands on; and, why on earth, if you don't mind me asking, was it Mainz that was chosen for the venue of this? (Laughter).

CHANCELLOR SCHROEDER: (In German) Yes, very much so. Preparations have matured healthily and substantially. The program is already in place and we're very much looking forward to doing what the program suggests for us to do on that day. Why Mainz, to answer to your question. Mainz certainly is a very beautiful town indeed, and the President expressed a desire to visit some of his soldiers here on German ground, which I could very much relate to. And he can do that in Mainz, so we are very much looking forward to that.

There is, actually, one little side effect that I shouldn't hide away from you. I think it is quite a nice fact, but it is a fact as well. I don't know whether you know that the President will grace us with the presence of his wife, Mrs. Bush, when they both come here. And Mrs. Bush, from everything we know, is very interested in books and literature. And Mrs. Bush, from what I heard, has expressed a desire to see the Guttenberg Museum and unfortunately we only have that one and it happens to be in Mainz. (Laughter).

SECRETARY RICE: Steve Weisman. No, I'm sorry, it was a hand behind you then. Yes, right.

CHANCELLOR SCHROEDER: We are in Germany, but that's woman power. (Laughter.)

SECRETARY RICE: I thought that might not be. Maybe I'll call on some of the German press?

CHANCELLOR SCHROEDER: I know it, I know it, no problem.

QUESTION: Okay with me. On the plane ride over Madam Secretary, you said that the Iranians are playing games, that they continue to play games, with regard to their enrichment programs and that they have shown no sign that they are going to stop. They have shown no sign that they are going to comply with their treaty obligations, as you put it. Why then should we believe that diplomacy has any chance, if as you believe, the Iranians are showing no sign of compliance?

SECRETARY RICE: Let me put it this way. The Iranians, to date, have not, I think, demonstrated that they are prepared to live up to their international obligations. There are concerns. These are not just the concerns of the United States. These are concerns that have been raised by the IAEA, they have been raised by colleagues around the world. It is one of the reasons that the EU-3 is engaged in these discussions with the Iranians, because there are concerns about what is being done under cover of civilian nuclear power development. And so, there is -- diplomacy can work in this case if there is unity of purpose and unity of message to the Iranians that the international community expects them to live up to their obligations.

I said earlier, and I will repeat it -- the European Three: the British, the Germans, the French -- have given the -- are giving the Iranians an opportunity to demonstrate that they are prepared to live up to their international obligations, that they are prepared to address the concerns of the international community about their activities. And I really do hope that the Iranians will take the opportunity that is being presented to them.

CHANCELLOR SCHROEDER: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you.