BRUSSELS (Reuters) – In its first public overture to Tehran, the Obama administration intends to invite Iran to an international conference on Afghanistan planned for this month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Thursday.

“If we move forward with such a meeting, it is expected that Iran would be invited as a neighbor of Afghanistan,” Clinton told a news conference in Brussels after meeting NATO foreign ministers.

President Barack Obama, in a dramatic turnaround from Bush administration policy, has said the United States wants to engage Iran on a range of issues and the conference invitation would be the start of diplomatic outreach to Tehran.

Clinton proposed the conference, which brings in Afghanistan’s other neighbors including Pakistan and other major players, would take place on March 31.

“It is a way of bringing all the stakeholders and interested parties together,” said Clinton.

Iran borders Afghanistan and worked closely with the United States after the U.S. military offensive there to topple the Taliban and fight al Qaeda following the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

The United States is at loggerheads with Iran on a range of issues, including its nuclear program which Washington says is aimed at building an atomic bomb. Tehran says its program is for peaceful power purposes.

“Our task is to dissuade them, deter them and prevent from acquiring a nuclear weapon,” Clinton said.

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Call me a skeptic if you will, but I don’t think this overture is going to turn out the way the Obama Administration hopes.

Tags: Hillary Clinton, Iran, state department

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 5th, 2009 at 5:35 pm and is filed under Afghanistan, Ahmadinejad, Democratic Party, Iran, Middle East, Pakistan, Politics, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.