Embassy of The United States
Yerevan, Armenia
On June 3, U.S. Ambassador John M. Evans released an op-ed on Iran’s nuclear
program and the U.S. offer to join negotiations if Iran fulfills its
international obligations by suspending its enrichment-related and
reprocessing activities.

Iran’s Choice
For more than a year, the United States has worked to build an international
consensus that while Iran is entitled to peaceful nuclear power, it must not
be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. The United States has supported EU-3
negotiations with Iran and is now prepared to join them if Iran fulfills its
international obligations by suspending its enrichment-related and
reprocessing activities as requested by the IAEA Board of Governors and the
UN Security Council. This is a moment of opportunity and America has acted
to give diplomacy its very best opportunity to succeed.
Iran now faces a clear choice. The positive choice will lead to many
benefits and greater security for the Iranian people, the region and the
world. The negative choice is for Iran to continue on its current path,
which will lead only to great costs and increasing international isolation.
The positive, peaceful choice is a genuine commitment to suspend all
enrichment-related and reprocessing activities and return to full
cooperation with the IAEA. This choice would lead to negotiations that can
provide peaceful nuclear energy for the Iranian people and could include
progressively greater economic cooperation with the rest of the world.
Secretary Rice met on Thursday with her counterparts from France, UK,
Germany, EU, Russia and China in Vienna to finalize a package to encourage
Iran to make the right choice and suspend enrichment. This presents an
opportunity for Iran to clarify its intentions to the world. If Iran’s
intentions are peaceful, it will choose the path of negotiations with the
international community.
Our willingness to join the negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program does not
mean that we are normalizing our relationship with Iran, because the nuclear
issue is not the only obstacle standing in the way of improved relations. We
have many fundamental differences with Iran’s regime. The Iranian government
is the lead state sponsor of terror, is involved in violence in Iraq, and is
undercutting the restoration of full sovereignty in Lebanon. The Iranian
regime denies basic human rights to its people and represses democracy
activists and reformers. These policies are out of step with the
international community and are barriers to a positive relationship between
the Iranian people and the people of the United States and the rest of the
world.
We hope that Iran will make a positive choice and return to nuclear
negotiations in good faith, so that the international community will have an
opportunity to raise this broad range of issues. President Bush wants a new
and positive relationship between the American people and the people of
Iran – a beneficial relationship of increased contacts in education,
cultural exchange, sports, travel, trade and investment.
If Iran chooses the path of negotiations, we are now ready to join with our
international partners in direct talks with Iran for the first time in more
than 25 years. This represents strong leadership for diplomacy by the United
States and removes Iran’s last excuse. Iran now has an opportunity to make a
serious, responsible choice in the best interests of its own people and the
community of nations.
As the United States works with the EU-3 and the rest of the international
community to encourage Iran to choose the right path, the U.S. government
calls on all countries to support this international effort towards peace.
Should Iran choose to continue its current activities and refuse to
participate in negotiations, Iran’s neighbors, the region, and the
international community will face a threat to their peace and stability.
John M. Evans
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia