Iran hopes that Saturday's talks in Switzerland on its nuclear program will lead to a "positive outcome," the state-run news agency quoted Iran's foreign minister as saying, reported CNN.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, is in Geneva to meet with a delegation led by the European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana. Top U.S. diplomat William Burns is sitting in on the meeting, marking a major shift in U.S. policy on Iran.
Iran's IRNA news agency said Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki is "hoping that the upcoming talks between nuclear Iran and the Group 5+1 would lead to (a) positive outcome."
The group includes the six world powers -- the five veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany -- which agreed on a package of incentives for Iran if it stops uranium enrichment, or penalties if it refuses.
Burns and Jalili are not expected to speak directly to each other at the meeting, which was called to hear the Iranians' response to the incentive package.
A senior U.S. administration official told CNN Wednesday that Washington simply wants to remind Tehran that there are consequences -- possibly more sanctions -- if Tehran doesn't accept the offer of the refreshed incentives.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Burns will be under strict orders that he can listen but not engage in one-on-one discussions with Jalili. If possible, McCormack said, Burns will hammer home the U.S. position that Iran can end its political and economic isolation if it stops enriching uranium.
Iran insists its nuclear program is for research and civilian energy purposes, but the United States believes the process will enable Iran to produce nuclear weapons.
The decision to send Burns, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, is meant to send a strong signal but does not indicate a change of the U.S. position on Iran, McCormack said.
Until now, U.S. President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice insisted that the United States would talk to Iran only after Tehran halted its nuclear program.
EU officials have said they want the meeting to advance discussions with Iran and break the deadlock over the country's nuclear activities.
Iranian officials have expressed hope that Saturday's talks will be held in a new atmosphere of trust with no threats.
The U.S. participation in the talks is a "new positive approach," Mottaki said Friday, in comments carried by IRNA.
"I hope this progress (in the format) will also have (an) impact on the content of the talks," Mottaki said.
McCormack and others refused to predict whether sending Burns to the Saturday meeting will set off a carefully executed series of diplomatic maneuvers, the first of which would be for Iran to "freeze" its nuclear program while the United States and its allies freeze any new sanctions, followed by a formal "suspension" on both sides.