• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

U.S. Department of State

Daily Press Briefing

.....................

QUESTION: Iran seems to be less than impressed with the Secretary's speech, and I am wondering your reaction to that.

MR. RUBIN: I wonder where - do you guys have a chart from which you pick up your precursors to your questions - "less than impressed," "set back," "didn't like it," "didn't go over well," "the left hand doesn't ...." I mean, is there a card from which you pick? I just wonder. Please continue.

QUESTION: No, it's go with the news.

MR. RUBIN: Let's go with the news.

QUESTION: Go with the facts.

MR. RUBIN: Right.

QUESTION: Iran seems to be less impressed. I mean, how do you react to that? And the fact that there weren't more sort of concrete actions, they're saying they're looking for action, which is often the US mantra. I mean, the fact that there weren't more specific actions suggested in her speech, does that reflect, you know, differences of opinion within the Administration about where to go on Iran?

MR. RUBIN: Well, the last one is the easiest which is that the Administration on subjects like Iran and pretty much every subject always has a healthy debate about any tactical decision or strategic decision. That's the nature of government, but it's not appropriate for us to make public every difference of view. I don't think, to my knowledge, this issue is marked by any more or less healthy discussion of any issue than any other subject.

With respect to the Iranian reaction, let me say this: We're not going to be going into a back and forth every day. The Secretary's speech was a clear statement of our views, and we expect that Iran will wish to take some time to develop a considered and careful evaluation of what the next steps might be. With respect to their public comments, they did not come as a surprise. There were some comments that were positive and some that were looking for policy actions. We, obviously, believe that the best way to move the situation forward is for us to talk, to develop an understanding of what the problems are that each side has, to get commitments to change those problems and ameliorate them, along which there would be a set of parallel responses.

So we have not changed our actions in the form of the economic measures, including sanctions, including the pipeline issue, and that was not what the speech was about. The speech was about - well, I needn't repeat it for you. You heard the speech and saw the remarks we have made since then. So we expect there to be a reaction that will come over time and not overnight.

QUESTION: In the speech Indonesia came in for a few compliments - sorry, Dave.

MR. RUBIN: Are you still on Iran?

QUESTION: On Iran.

QUESTION: Go ahead.

MR. RUBIN: Yes.

QUESTION: What is your view, if you have one, as to why it is that the Iranian government doesn't seem ready to have a government-to-government authorized dialogue?

MR. RUBIN: They have to make that decision for themselves. And we - as the Secretary said, we're certainly encouraged by the civilizational dialogue that President Khatemi talked about through cultural exchanges, academic exchanges, and the kind of sporting exchange we're going to all see this weekend, a subject about which, by the way, that some people may have misinterpreted something I said, I guess, yesterday. And I'm going to break my rule on sports to answer this question.

Just as my predecessor, as a person coming from the State of Massachusetts - the great State of Massachusetts - had a desire to see the teams coming from where he lived win international sporting events. I can point out that I was born and am a citizen of the United States. Now, with respect to why they --

QUESTION: That means you want the United States to win.

MR. RUBIN: That would be the logical conclusion, yes.

QUESTION: (Inaudible.)

MR. RUBIN: Well, we'll have to see. I think we'll all be watching. And soccer is a great game, and the opportunity for fans and people to talk about such a game is a healthy thing, as the President has indicated and taped a message accordingly. And so we'll see how it goes on Sunday, but we'll be watching it closely.

With respect to why the Iranian Government has not chosen to begin an authorized acknowledged dialogue with the United States, the short answer is that's for them to explain. We are not going to try to divine the reasons, but we would like to see it happen and we think that their concerns can be best addressed in a dialogue, just as we think the best way for our deep concerns over the subjects of sponsorship of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction can best be resolved through dialogue.

QUESTION: Could it be that the decisions like that are not made by the President - that he's just one voice, as Ambassador Akins pointed out in a very detailed, thought out column in the Los Angeles Times last week that there are lots of voices there and the voices of the mullahs are really the predominant voice?

MR. RUBIN: Well, I don't think that was the essence of his column. We've obviously studied this carefully.

QUESTION: He thinks you're misreading Tehran. That was the essence of his column.

MR. RUBIN: That is the essence of his column.

QUESTION: That you think you'd like things to happen that haven't really happened to the extent that - and that's before the speech.

MR. RUBIN: Right. We believe that President Khatemi's election was a reflection of the demand for change of the people there. That was powerful and serious, and that demand for change is what we are responding to and the Secretary responded to in her speech. And those who didn't read it carefully seem to have missed some of that subtlety.

At what point a government - however it makes its decisions - chooses to respond to the United States and what steps it takes in response to that is something we intend to measure very concretely, and it's not that complicated to do. In the meantime, Ambassador Akins is certainly encouraged to speculate as to what he thinks is going on there, and there are different speculations. It's hard to know for sure. But what we will know is if the government, through its authorized representatives, is in a position to begin a dialogue and make decisions that affect our national interests in a way that we would like to see happen. That's what governments do and, in the meantime, it is appropriate for analysts to speculate as to who's up and who's down, but not for government spokesmen to do so.

QUESTION: I'd like to get back to the soccer match because it's huge in Europe. I mean, without pushing it, when Iran says it wants to have a concrete action from the United States - I mean, here's an event --

MR. RUBIN: Would throwing the soccer match be a concrete action? No, it's not something we're prepared to consider.

QUESTION: No - well, I mean, there's a Presidential message that will be aired before this match, and here you are talking about it. Is this a concrete way of showing Iran that you mean it?

MR. RUBIN: It's certainly concrete in the exchange area to have sporting events of interest, like the soccer match is of interest to peoples in Iran and Europe and in the United States, and the President's decision to talk about that match as part of the process of developing greater understandings between our two peoples is part of this "civilizational dialogue." But I think both we and the Iranian Government have talked about concrete actions in terms of - we have, very clearly - in terms of state sponsorship for terrorism, in terms of weapons of mass destruction, in terms of other steps, and they obviously see steps that we've taken in the economic sanctions areas as what they are looking for.

And what I am suggesting is that in that area, the best way to get progress from our standpoint - and this is our judgment - is to have an authorized acknowledged dialogue in which we can agree on what the benchmarks are and work from those to seek concrete improvements. That's what we want to see and I would be surprised if the Iranian Government, in pursuit of its own national interests, wouldn't want to see parallel responses. But we're saying that that is concrete action.

In the meantime, pending such a decision, we are actively supporting a variety of exchanges and we support the idea of the great game of soccer, including a game between the two countries' professionals, and that will continue. And we, as I said and you would expect, I personally would want to see the American team show the flag as well as possible on Sunday.

QUESTION: Aren't you reading too much into the soccer match? I mean, that's the luck of the draw.

MR. RUBIN: I was trying to respond to a question.

QUESTION: No, but I mean, it is the luck of the draw. It's an international competition and, you know, I mean the numbers came up. It's different than the exchange of wrestlers, isn't it?

MR. RUBIN: No. I would say it this way - is that yes, it was the luck of the draw and it is different in the sense that it's not a planned trip by a group of esteemed journalists from one country to the other or visa versa. But in the context of this kind of event, the fact that the President has chosen to talk about it is a way to bring home the point that it is a way to bring greater understanding between the two peoples.

QUESTION: We've kicked this around. Can we move?

MR. RUBIN: We've kicked this around. Very good.

(Laughter.)

............

(The briefing concluded at 1:55 P.M.)

[end of document]