Agence France-Presse: "US dismisses Ahmadinejad letter, no deal on Iran nuclear program"

Iran hailed the letter, the first from an Iranian leader to a US president for more than 25 years, as a major diplomatic initiative, but senior officials here dismissed it as a rambling 18-page document that was little more than a philosophical treatise.

As details of the text emerged, Washington made it clear it did not change its position in the standoff over Iran's nuclear program.

Tehran announced the letter before talks late Monday in New York of foreign ministers of the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany and the European Union to try to map out a strategy to force Iran to halt sensitive nuclear fuel work.

But the ministers, also from Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, failed to reach a consensus on a possible UN resolution, a US official said early Tuesday.

The official, who asked not to be named, said there was no agreement on a US push for a resolution under Chapter Seven of the UN charter which authorizes sanctions and even the use of force.

"I think the prospects for an agreement this week are not substantially good," the official added.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said there were up to six issues to be resolved before a resolution could be agreed.

He did not specify what they were but told Germany's ZDF television Tuesday that he believed it would take up to two weeks to reach agreement.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, meanwhile, praised Russia and China for taking a "realistic" approach. Moscow and Beijing, which have close economic ties with Iran, have not supported a proposed draft resolution.

"We feel that certain countries have been acting in a more realistic manner" than others which "are trying to create headaches," he said during a visit to Greece, referring to the United States.

The United States and Europe fear Iran is using a stated drive for peaceful atomic energy as a cover for developing nuclear weapons, which Tehran strongly denies.

The matter went sent to the Security Council after Iran failed to meet a deadline by the UN nuclear watchdog to halt uranium enrichment, which can make fuel for reactors but also what can be the core of atom bombs.

In the letter, written in English and sent Monday, Ahmadinejad proposed a return to religious principles as a means of restoring confidence.

"That is, a genuine return to the teachings of prophets, to monotheism and justice, to preserve human dignity and obedience to the Almighty and His prophets?" read the letter, a copy of which AFP obtained.

The document is filled with religious references and revisits many of the grievances Tehran has against Washington.

It said people of the world "have no faith in international organizations, because their rights are not advocated by these organizations."

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was unimpressed.

"There is nothing in this letter that in any way addresses any of the issues really that are on the table in the international community," Rice told the editorial board of the Associated Press, according to a State Department transcript.

"It is most assuredly not a proposal," she said. "There is nothing in here that would suggest that we're on any different course than we were before we got the letter."

In New York, Security Council members are bargaining over a Franco-British draft resolution that would require Iran to freeze all uranium enrichment and reprocessing.

Bush has not ruled out military action against Iran, which Washington also accuses of being the world's "leading sponsor of terror."

Russian news agencies quoted Moscow's top envoy, Sergei Lavrov, as calling for further negotiations, including more direct talks between major powers and Iran.

"There was general agreement on the need to create conditions for resuming direct negotiations on Iran's nuclear program," Interfax news agency reported him as saying.

China also reiterated its stance that the Iranian nuclear issue could still be resolved through diplomacy.

"We urge all sides to remain calm, exercise restraint, show flexibility and avoid a worsening of the situation," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in Beijing.

Lavrov will travel to China on May 15 for a three-day visit, Interfax news agency reported Tuesday.

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