US grows impatient with Iran talks

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the US will not wait much longer for Iran to respond to US offer to open talks over the country’s nuclear program.

“We are under no illusions. We were under no illusions before their elections that we can get the kind of engagement we are seeking,” Clinton said in an interview with CNN.

“The president [Barack Obama] has also said, look, we need to take stock of this in September. If there is a response, it needs to be on a fast track. We’re not going to keep the window open forever,” she said.

Clinton said the US would reconsider its efforts to persuade Iran back to the negotiating table in September.

In April, the US expressed hope that Tehran would resume talks with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany (P5+1) with the aim of settling disputes over Iran’s nuclear activities.

Iran says its activities are in line with its obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and are aimed at the civilian applications of the technology.

The US and its European allies, meanwhile, accuse the Tehran government of conducting clandestine efforts to obtain nuclear weaponry, insisting Tehran must stop its Uranium enrichment.

The US and its Western allies say they seek to extend economic incentives to Iran in exchange for Iran halting its uranium enrichment activities.

However, the Obama administration which has renewed Clinton era sanction against Iran has threatened Iran with imposing new and tougher rounds of sanctions should the Islamic Republic reject the talks and ignore the US demand.