. . .

QUESTION: Iran's decision to hold talks with the P-5+1 on October 1st - doesn't that avoid the UN General Assembly? It takes the - you can't really raise it and debate there.

MR. KELLY: Well, I mean, I think we still intend to meet - the P-5+1 partners intend to meet during the UN General Assembly. And the point of all this is to sit down with the Iranians and explain directly, face-to-face, the choice that they have. And we've explained what that choice is. They have - they can go down one path which leads to the - to integration with the international community, or they can continue down another path which leads to isolation. And that's the path that we're concerned that they're on now because they're not meeting their obligations to the international community.

And we plan to address this issue of their not living up to their obligations head on. We - this is going to be front and center in our talks with them on October 1st. And we are not planning to start a whole new process here. This is just going to - we're going to sit down and have the opportunity to explain to them directly what their choice is.

QUESTION: You're not going to have much to work with at the UN since the talks with Iran are going to be later.

MR. KELLY: Well, I mean, it's a chance for us all to sit down once again and talk through these concerns that we all have and discuss the best means for us all to get to our common goal, and that's to make sure that the - that Iran understands that it has obligations as well as rights, and the obligations are to provide more transparency into this nuclear program that they've started.

Yeah.

QUESTION: Any information on where the talks might be held and who might represent the U.S. side?

MR. KELLY: No decisions have been made regarding the venue. It's not going to be - it won't be in the U.S. It's going to be in some third location. And that will be worked out with Mr. Solana's office.

QUESTION: And representing the U.S. - anyone?

MR. KELLY: It'll going to be at the political director level, so that will be Under Secretary Burns.

QUESTION: Ian, I'm not - you're going to use this to sit down and explain to the Iranians exactly the choice they have to make, the choice they face?

MR. KELLY: We haven't had that opportunity for quite a while.

QUESTION: Well, no, but don't you think the Iranians are fully aware of the choice that you're offering them?

MR. KELLY: Well, we --

QUESTION: I mean, they've thumbed their noses at it --

MR. KELLY: Yeah.

QUESTION: -- for the last several years, and nothing - it's the same choice that they have faced dating back to the prior administration. What on earth makes you think that somehow now they're going to be willing to take it?

MR. KELLY: Because we plan to highlight to them exactly what the best means --

QUESTION: And you don't think the last administration did that?

MR. KELLY: What we say in public is one thing, and what we say in - what we hear in private is another. So the six members of the P-5+1, we are united in this common goal of getting the Iranians to introduce more transparency into their nuclear program. And as I said, we're not interested in a process that's going to go on forever --

QUESTION: Well, actually, you seem --

MR. KELLY: -- but, actually, we want to take this opportunity --

QUESTION: You seem to be.

MR. KELLY: Well, I don't agree. We have a dual-track policy, and we've been pursuing one of these tracks. It's time now to pursue the other one.

QUESTION: Ian, the dual-track policy goes back years.

MR. KELLY: Yeah.

QUESTION: And it hasn't produced any results yet, and the Iranians say specifically that they're not interested in talking about their nuclear program.

MR. KELLY: Well, we're going to talk about, and I don't -

QUESTION: And they're just going to hold their - they're going to, you know, put their hands over their ears and say, you know, I can't hear you.

MR. KELLY: We hope that the six of us can really lay out to them in a very stark fashion the choice that they have, and we're going to take this opportunity to do it.

QUESTION: And for some reason - for some reason you --

MR. KELLY: I think it's really incumbent on us to do this, to take this opportunity.

QUESTION: But you don't - but for some reason, you think that they don't understand?

MR. KELLY: Well, look, we're under no illusions about the Iranians.

QUESTION: Well, I know. Well -

MR. KELLY: And - but we have an opportunity here to present a united front - the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany - to show that the international community wants them to abandon their nuclear - their - any plans they have for militarization of their nuclear program.

QUESTION: All right. Well, you will accept, though, that for the past several years this is the same message the Iranians have been getting, yes?

MR. KELLY: I'll accept that, sure.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR. KELLY: Like I say, we have no illusions --

QUESTION: Can I ask you --

MR. KELLY: -- about the Iranians.

. . .

QUESTION: Well, first of all, a moment ago you said something that was interesting. I just wanted to ask you about it. You said what we say in public and what we hear in private are not necessarily the same --

MR. KELLY: No, no. Okay, yeah --

QUESTION: Can you clarify that?

MR. KELLY: I didn't phrase that - I didn't phrase that very well.

QUESTION: Right, okay. (Laughter.)

MR. KELLY: What nations say in public is one thing, and what they say in private is another thing.

QUESTION: Are you --

MR. KELLY: I'm sorry. I was a little --

QUESTION: Fair enough. But --

MR. KELLY: -- a little lax in my phraseology there.

QUESTION: Fair enough. But does that suggest that something you're hearing in private gives you more optimism about the profitability of these talks than what you were in hearing in public?

MR. KELLY: No. I'm not trying to suggest that. I'm just trying - what I'm highlighting here is that we want to explore this avenue. We want to have this opportunity to sit down with them and for us to present the international community's concerns directly face-to-face to the Iranians.

QUESTION: Okay. And then one last Iran-related question. And I apologize if this has come up in previous briefings and I didn't see it. But Hugo Chavez was quoted as saying that Venezuela wanted to pursue a peaceful nuclear program with help from Russia.

MR. KELLY: Yeah.

QUESTION: And there's obviously been a long and close association between Venezuela and Iran.

MR. KELLY: Right.

QUESTION: They're close allies.

MR. KELLY: Yep.

QUESTION: Is there any concern about technology transfers or nuclear transfers on the U.S. part between Iran and Venezuela?

MR. KELLY: Yeah. The short answer is, to that, yes, we do have concerns. We have concerns in general about Venezuela's stated desire to increase its arms buildup, which we think poses a serious challenge to stability in the Western Hemisphere. What they are looking to purchase and what they are purchasing outpaces all other countries in South America. And of course, we're concerned about an arms race in the region.

And we urge Venezuela to be transparent in its purchases and very clear about the purposes of these purchases. And we're also very concerned that they put in place very clear procedures and safeguards that these - that these arms are not diverted to any irregular or illegal organizations in the region.

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