Iran said on Wednesday it viewed pending nuclear talks with six world powers as an opportunity and a test,and the United States said an extraordinarily difficult process was starting with more meetings likely. Washington has said big powers will pursue harsher sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme if the new dialogue fails. This,from the point of view of the United States,cannot be an open-ended process,or talks just for the sake of talks,especially in light of the revelations about Qum, said a senior US official. He was referring to a uranium enrichment site near Qum in Iran,which Tehran revealed to the UN nuclear watchdog last week. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made clear Tehran was looking for a changed approach from the West,while showing no sign of any Iranian readiness to compromise in the nuclear dispute. He said the Geneva talks represented an exceptional opportunity (for Western countries) to change their situation in the world and correct their way of dealing with nations. If Iran is willing to address the nuclear issues,then there will be subsequent meetings,State Department spokesperson P J Crowley said. We are not going to make a snap judgement. Were going to see how that meeting goes,evaluate the willingness of Iran to engage on these issues. We are entering the talks with goodwill, chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said just before flying to Geneva for the talks.
