Iran offers to negotiate with the UN

If anyone is listening....

VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Iran demanded an end to Security Council "interference" in an offer made public Tuesday in exchange for clearing up suspicions about its disputed nuclear activities - an apparent attempt to head off new U.N sanctions over its refusal to stop uranium enrichment.

The overture, contained in a document made available to The Associated Press, came as the five permanent council members deliberated a new resolution aiming to tighten up sanctions against Iran for its nuclear defiance.

Iran has made similar offers before, but renewing it now seemed to be linked to those moves in New York, even though diplomats involved in working on a new draft resolution cautioned any agreement was some time off.

Such deliberations usually pit Russia and China - which seek more lenience - against the United States, Britain and France. The initial set of sanctions agreed upon Dec. 23 were milder than the West had wanted and took Russian and Chinese reservations into account.