http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=578&e=2&u=/nm/20050311/pl_nm/nuclear_iran_usa_dc
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States, in a policy shift, offered Iran economic incentives to abandon its suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Reuters on Friday.
Rice said in an interview the decision to allow Iran to begin talks join the World Trade Organization and to consider letting it buy civilian airline parts gave Britain, France and Germany “more cards to play” in their negotiations to stop what Washington regards as Iran’s push for the atomic bomb.
The U.S. decision marks a major policy shift by Washington, which had previously refused to offer such incentives to Iran. It was matched by a Europe decision to shift its approach and support referring Iran to the U.N. Security Council if it resumes uranium enrichment or breaches nuclear commitments.