Focus of the discussions will be Tehran's disputed nuclear program

TEHRAN, Iran - The Obama administration said Wednesday it will participate directly in group talks with Iran over its suspect nuclear program, marking another shift from former President George W. Bush's policies.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Wednesday the United States would be at the table "from now on" when senior diplomats from the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany meet with Iranian officials to discuss the nuclear issue. The Bush administration had generally shunned such meetings.

Wood said the decision was conveyed to representatives of Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia by the third-ranking U.S. diplomat, William Burns, at a meeting earlier Wednesday in London.

Wood said the decision was conveyed to representatives of Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia by the third-ranking U.S. diplomat, William Burns, at a Wednesday meeting in London. That group, known as the "P5+1," announced earlier that it would invite Iran to attend a new session aimed at breaking a deadlock in the talks.

"The U.S. remains committed to the P5+1 process. What is different is that the U.S. will join P5+1 discussions with Iran from now on," Wood told reporters. He said Washington hopes Iran will attend.

"If Iran accepts, we hope this will be the occasion to seriously engage Iran on how to break the logjam of recent years and work in a cooperative manner to resolve the outstanding international concerns about its nuclear program," he said. "Any breakthrough will be the result of the collective efforts of all the parties, including Iran."

Iran president OKs 'honest' talks

Earlier Wednesday, Iran's hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said that his country welcomes talks with the U.S. should the American president prove to be "honest" in extending its hand toward Iran.

At his inauguration in January, Obama said his administration would reach out to rival states, saying "we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

Last month, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rebuffed Obama's video message on the occasion of Nowruz, the Persian new year, in which the president reached out to the Iranian people. Khamenei said Tehran was still waiting to see concrete changes in U.S. policy.

But Ahmadinejad offered a more conciliatory tone Wednesday.

"The Iranian nation welcomes a hand extended to it should it really and truly be based on honesty, justice and respect," Ahmadinejad said in a speech broadcast live on state television.

Ahmadinejad, however, said Obama will meet the fate of former President Bush if he is proved not to be honest.

"But if, God forbid, the extended hand has an honest appearance but contains no honesty in content, it will meet the same response the Iranian nation gave to Mr. Bush," Ahmadinejad said.

Cautious tone

Diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Iran were cut after the U.S. Embassy hostage-taking that followed the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The revolution toppled the pro-U.S. shah and brought to power a government of Islamic clerics.

The United States cooperated with Iran in late 2001 and 2002 in the Afghanistan conflict, but the promising contacts fizzled ¡ª and were extinguished completely when Bush branded Tehran part of the "Axis of Evil."