Iran will "remove obstacles" blocking negotiations with the United States if Washington shows good will, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani said Wednesday. "Any time the United States sends a signal showing good will in its dealings with Iran, we will in return remove obstacles in the way of negotiations," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Rafsanjani as saying.Rafsanjani's comments came just before U.S. President George W. Bush told reporters in Washington that he is convinced the Iranian government is supplying deadly weapons to fighters in Iraq, even if he cannot prove the orders came from the highest levels in Tehran. Rafsanjani is widely seen as a power broker in Iran seeking to reach out to the West and help reduce mounting tensions between Tehran and the United States.
Iran and the U.S. are at odds over Iran's controversial nuclear activities and its refusal to halt uranium enrichment. The former Iranian president in recent weeks has said differences between Iran and the West need to be resolved through "dialogue and wisdom" — clear signals that Tehran would consider a face-saving solution to the standoff over Iran's nuclear program. "The most important obstacle in the way of establishment of relations, is the manner of America in seeking to dominate in dealings with other countries," IRNA quoted Rafsanjani as saying.
The United States in recent weeks also has stepped up its accusations against Tehran, claiming Iran is behind attacks against troops in Iraq, an assertion denied by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.