Senators Urge Direct Diplomacy With Iran

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By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer

Sun Apr 16, 10:48 PM ET

The U.S. needs to pursue direct talks and other diplomatic avenues with Iran about its disputed nuclear program before considering a military option, lawmakers from both parties said Sunday. "I think that would be useful," said GOP Sen. Richard Lugar (news, bio, voting record), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, when asked on ABC's "This Week" about having direct talks.

"The Iranians are a part of the energy picture," Lugar said. "We need to talk about that."

Sen. Christopher Dodd (news, bio, voting record), D-Conn., agreed, saying the U.S. has ceded too much diplomacy to Europe.

"I happen to believe you need direct talks," Dodd said on "Fox News Sunday." "It doesn't mean you agree with them. It doesn't mean you support them. It doesn't mean you have formal diplomatic relations. But there's an option."

The Bush administration has warned Iran to comply with worldwide insistence to back off its nuclear program and said it had a "number of tools," including a military option, if Tehran did not cease uranium enrichment activities.

However, while the administration has said it would talk with Iran about its activities in Iraq, it has rejected the idea of direct negotiations over its nuclear program. The concern is that Iran is seeking to build a nuclear bomb, an allegation Tehran denies.

Saying the U.S. is "still in a diplomatic phase," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has cited an April 28 deadline that the U.N. Security Council has given Iran to back off its program. But Russia and China, which as permanent members of the Security Council hold veto power, have said they oppose sanctions.

On Sunday, Lugar said it made sense to consider Iran talks, while also dealing with Russia and China to sway their positions on the Security Council.

"There are issues there which, ironically, we may come out on the same side with some of the Iranians," said Lugar, R-Ind.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., denounced the possibility of using nuclear bombs against Iran as a pre-emptive measure, noting that the U.S. intelligence on Iran's capability "is not good."

A New Yorker magazine report earlier this month suggested the administration was planning for a strike with nuclear bombs against Iran's underground nuclear sites. President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have dismissed the report as wild speculation, although they haven't ruled out a military option.

"I don't know why we would even talk about using tactical nuclear weapons when we haven't directly spoken with the Iranians. It doesn't make sense," Feinstein said.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (news, bio, voting record), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said a move to have direct talks is the president's call, noting that Iran has not publicly shown much willingness to back off.

"This should not be a United States go-it-alone operation if we have to take military action, and that's the real challenge," said Hunter, R-Calif., who appeared with Feinstein on CNN's "Late Edition."

"But the point is that the Iranians, to engage in talks that are meaningful, you need to have a receptive audience," he said.