US-Iranian panel does not signal US policy change: US

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2008

WASHINGTON, Jan 30, 2008 (AFP) — A US ambassador's appearance on a panel with top Iranians in Davos, Switzerland last week was not authorized and did not signal a change in policy toward Iran, a senior US official said Wednesday.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack declined to overtly criticize Zalmay Khalilzad, the ambassador at the United Nations, for joining a panel at the World Economic Forum with Iranian Foreign Minister Manochehr Mottaki.

But McCormack said his appearance there had not been authorized by the State Department and a similar arrangement would not be repeated unless Iran reverses course on its disputed nuclear program.

"Is there some new policy, ... was permission asked for in advance? No, it's not a new policy. There wasn't any...