Iran has agreed to nuclear talks

The United States and Iran have agreed to one-on-one talks over Tehran's nuclear program, The New York Times reported Saturday, citing officials in the administration of President Barack Obama. The agreement is the result of secret talks between the two sides, according to the unnamed administration officials cited by the Times. Iran has insisted that such talks wait until after the US presidential election on November 6. The Iranians want to hold off until they know who the next US president will be, the report said. News of the agreement comes at a key point in the US presidential election campaign, with Obama set to face Republican rival Mitt Romney in Florida on Monday in their last of three debates -- this one focused on foreign policy. The report emphasized that the deal could still fall through. US officials said the negotiations were conducted with people who report to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but it was unclear if he had signed off on the deal. US officials also expressed concern that the Islamic republic could try to use the talks to stave off military action, buying time to complete elements of its nuclear program at hidden sites. Western powers accuse Tehran of seeking to develop a nuclear bomb, charges which Iranian leaders deny, saying their nuclear energy program is purely for civilian purposes. The Iranian side also has said it would like the talks to have a broader agenda including Syria and other issues that have bogged down relations between Washington and Tehran, the report said. "We've always seen the nuclear issue as independent," one administration official told the Times on condition of anonymity. "We're not going to allow them to draw a linkage." Romney has repeatedly accused Obama of having a weak stance on Iran, and has said he supports the same "red line" as Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capacity. But earlier this month, he tamped down the rhetoric, saying any US military intervention was "a long way" off. Obama has consistently drawn the line on not allowing Iran to acquire a nuclear bomb -- a distinct difference from Netanyahu's line on achieving weapons "capacity." US officials told the Times the White House had launched an internal review with staff at the State Department and the Pentagon to determine the best negotiating stance for Washington to adopt with Iran. Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, told the newspaper that the administration had not yet informed his country of any agreement on talks. "We do not think Iran should be rewarded with direct talks," Oren said. Negotiations between global powers and Tehran over its nuclear program have stalled. One senior US official said a new round of those talks had not taken place due to the prospect of direct US-Iran negotiations.