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QUESTION: I'd like to move to Iran now. It's always in the headlines. You've made very clear that a nuclear Iran is unacceptable. But in Bangkok yesterday, you also said that you are working - and you used the present tense - you said you are working to increase the mission capability of your allies in the Gulf region, and you made reference to a defense umbrella. What does that mean, exactly?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, it's a restatement of policy that basically is rooted in our bilateral relationships with many of the countries in the region. You know we do a lot of military business and sell a lot of weapons system to a number of countries in the Middle East and the Gulf. It also is a signal to Iran that, as they are engaged in their calculation about whether it's in their interest to continue moving toward a nuclear weapon, one element we want them to factor in is it may not make them any more secure. If they think it's going to give them a significant advantage over their neighbors and others in the region, that - we don't think that's the case.

QUESTION: But what is that defense umbrella? The missile shield, a nuclear umbrella?

SECRETARY CLINTON: No. It's nothing specific like that. It is a sort of general term that is used to describe our commitment to making sure that Iran doesn't get a nuclear weapon, to undermine their confidence that this is the right path to take, and to continue doing what we're doing, which is to beef up the defensive capabilities of countries that are very worried about Iran.

QUESTION: Staying with Iran, you've said that you're still ready to engage with Iran. And I was wondering, engage with who? President Ahmadinejad? The Ayatollah? The Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei? If you do that, you would demoralize millions of Iranians who have gone to the streets to say they don't consider these men their legitimate leaders. Why not, at this moment, say a full-on engagement is on hold while you sort out your internal issues, but we will still talk to you about the nuclear issue and only the nuclear issue?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, of course, that is pretty much what's happening. The internal debates going on within Iran have made it difficult, if not impossible, for them to pursue any diplomatic engagement - not just with us, but with the P-5+1. There's so much that is being put on hold.

But we don't have an unlimited window of opportunity here. The nuclear clock is ticking, and we know that we've got to press Iran to begin a serious discussion about its intentions concerning nuclear power. And I think our saying that we're willing to engage with Iran doesn't necessarily mean we're deciding who we would engage with. We're looking at Iran as an entity, as a country that is on this path toward nuclear weapons. And it's one that we would like to see them choose a different way.

QUESTION: But if suddenly President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said, "Okay, I'm ready to talk," would you talk to him?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I'm not going to get into hypotheticals, because that hasn't happened, and I've never thought that he was the decision maker in Iran. I didn't think it before the election. I don't think it today. So I don't know that even if that were to occur that would be sufficient.

QUESTION: But so in a way, your offer for full-on engagement is on hold.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, we haven't had any response. So we've certainly reached out. We've made it clear that that's what we would be willing to do even now, despite our absolute condemnation of what they've done in the election and since. But I don't think that they have any capacity to make that kind of decision right now.

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