Post date: Jan 04, 2011 8:54:56 PM
During a news conference in Washington, U.S. State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley says the U.S. has not been invited to attend a tour of Iranian nuclear sites. Crowley also says the U.S. is reviewing a letter from Israel requesting clemency for Jonathan Pollard who was caught spying for Israel in the 1980's.
WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (JANUARY 4, 2010) STATE TV - U.S. State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley said on Tuesday (January 4) the U.S. has not been invited to visit nuclear plants in Iran, and the tour "is not a substitute" for full cooperation with the IAEA.
"This magical, mystery tour, if you want to describe it as that, is not a substitute for what Iran has to do which is to you know cooperate fully and transparently with the IAEA," Crowley told reporters at the State Department.Iran invited Russia, China, the European Union and others on Tuesday to visit key nuclear plants, but left out Britain, France, Germany and the United States -- the countries most opposed to its nuclear program.
Iran's surprise invitation to ambassadors accredited to the U.N. nuclear watchdog in Vienna was a bid to show openness before Tehran and six world powers are due to meet in Istanbul later this month to discuss its disputed atomic activities.
The West suspects Iran's uranium enrichment program aims to make nuclear bombs while Tehran says it is for peaceful ends.
The United States and Britain dismissed the Iranian move, as did Western analysts who viewed Tehran's gesture as a public relations exercise and said Iran would be more transparent if it gave international inspectors greater access to its sites.
During the news conference, Crowley also acknowledged the U.S. was reviewing a letter from Israel requesting clemency for imprisoned spy Jonathan Pollard.
"We are reviewing the letter, full stop. You know, this is an issue that has come up you know from time to time in our discussions with Israeli leaders. This one and others and we will review the letter," Crowley said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed to U.S. President Barack Obama to grant clemency to Pollard in a letter he then read publicly in Israel's parliament on Tuesday.
Pollard, a former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst, has been serving a life sentence in the United States since he was caught spying for Israel in the 1980s, triggering a scandal that rocked U.S.-Israeli relations.