Just a day before his country's chief nuclear negotiator meets with representatives from world heavyweights in Geneva, Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki discussed his country's contentious nuclear program with Turkish officials in Ankara and said he expected progress in the key talks.

Representatives from Britain, China, Russia and France as well as the European Union's high commissioner for foreign and security policy, Javier Solana, will meet with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, in Geneva to discuss Iran's response to an offer made by world powers last month to encourage it to give up its sensitive nuclear work, which the West believes is aimed at building a nuclear bomb and Tehran says is for peaceful power-generation purposes.

For the first time, a representative from the United States, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns, will also attend the talks, signaling a policy change on the part of Washington and raising hopes that a peaceful settlement may be found to an international dispute over Iran's nuclear program.

"The new negotiation process [and] the participation of a US diplomat look positive from the outset, but we hope that is reflected in the talks," Mottaki told a joint news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan. "We hope good results will come if the process continues in this way," Mottaki said. Turkey, which has been mediating between Israel and Syria in recent months, has said it is also involved in talks with Iran and expressed support for today's talks in Geneva, which could be pivotal in deciding whether diplomacy will succeed.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, speaking later in the day, said Turkey was likely to assume a role in the diplomatic efforts for a solution. Asked whether Turkey's role could be defined as mediation, he said he wouldn't go that far. "But the parties may have expectations from us. Turkey may be asked to intervene in difficult times," he said. Babacan also insisted that while Turkey is against the proliferation of nuclear weapons in its region, it also believes in the right of all countries to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

Babacan has said in recent statements that there have been requests from both sides to "see Turkey in the picture" and that Turkey has been having talks with both sides over the past several weeks. Experts say Turkey, which has good ties with both Iran and the West, is well placed to offer credible assistance to help find a solution in the nuclear row, which Ankara fears could result in a new regional disaster. "Proposals to resolve conflicts in our region are first worked out in Ankara and then brought to the international platform," Erdal ?afak, a columnist for the Sabah daily, wrote yesterday, adding, "Ankara has become a medical clinic offering prescriptions for peace."

In an interview with NTV Mottaki praised the role Turkey has played in the process, saying it was pursuing a "constructive stance."

On Thursday US National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley met with President Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Babacan during a visit to Ankara. He did not comment on Iran's nuclear program, but his visit led to speculation in the Turkish media that Turkey was passing his message to Mottaki about a US desire for normalization of relations with Iran.

As part of its diplomatic efforts, the US administration is floating a proposal to open a de facto US Embassy in Tehran. US diplomats would go to Iran for the first time since the countries broke off relations after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Mottaki insisted on specifically calling a US mission a "US interest-protection bureau," instead of a diplomatic mission, but raised the prospect of talks on restoring fractured relations between Iran and the United States. "I think there might be an agreement both on the issue of opening a US interest-protection bureau in Iran and on the issue of direct flights to Iran," he said.

Washington insists it will not negotiate with Iran as it has with North Korea until Tehran halts its enrichment and reprocessing of uranium. But it is supporting an effort led by the EU's Solana that would allow for early talks with others in the six-nation group before such a step. Iran has rebuffed the attempt to persuade it to stop enrichment and reprocessing, which can produce the key ingredient for atomic weapons, and insists its nuclear program is designed only to produce electric power. Others, particularly the United States and Israel, maintain it is a cover for weapons development.

When asked whether Iran was ready to freeze any expansion of its nuclear program in return for the UN Security Council halting further sanctions against it, Mottaki declined to comment, saying, "Let's not hurry." The UN has so far imposed three sets of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. Tensions with Iran have particularly intensified since Tehran tested missiles last week, alarming Israel and pushing up oil prices. Washington responded to the tests by saying it would defend its allies against any possible attacks.

Speaking to NTV, Mottaki said he saw almost no possibility of Israel or the United States attacking his country over its nuclear program. "The possibility of such an attack is almost zero," he said. "It [Israel] is still going through the aftereffects of its defeat in Lebanon," he said, referring to the 2006 war Israel launched against Lebanon's Hezbullah guerrillas. There's nothing left from the [Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert period, so the Israelis know what's going to happen," he added.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has said he believes Turkey's political leaders will find a way out of the current political crisis brewing over a closure case against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party). "Turkey is an important country in the region and it plays an important role. I believe the leaders of Turkey will be able to overcome all matters," Mottaki said at a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart, Ali Babacan, after talks in Ankara yesterday.

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