Gates questions notion of useful U.S.-Iran talks

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday questioned whether the United States could have productive talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without first stepping up pressure on Tehran.

Gates, who a week ago spoke publicly in support of enhanced U.S.-Iranian engagement, said Washington may have had an opportunity to open useful discussions with Iran in 2003 and 2004 while the country was governed by the less hard-line Mohammad Khatami.

"But what we have now is a resurgence of the original hard-line views of the Islamic revolutionaries," Gates said in response to lawmaker questions at a Senate defense appropriations hearing.

Gates' comments came at a time when dealing with Iran has become a central issue in the November presidential election campaign.

"The question is: do you have the kind of government in Iran now with whom there can be productive discussions on substantive issues? And I think that's an open question," Gates said.

"The key here is developing leverage, either through economic or diplomatic or military pressures on the Iranian government, so that they believe they must have talks with the United States because there is something they want from us, and that is, the relief of the pressure," he said.

His testimony coincides with a political sparring match between Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama and Republican John McCain over Obama's stated readiness to talk to Ahmadinejad and other U.S. adversaries if elected president.

President George W. Bush ignited a political firestorm on the issue with a May 15 speech to the Israeli parliament in which he said talking to "terrorists and radicals" was akin to appeasing Nazi Germany.  Continued...