Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with one eye on upcoming presidential elections in Iran, toned down his usually harsh speech towards the United States and said Iran is preparing a "new package that constitutes peace and justice." However, there was no indication when the proposals will be presented and what they will contain.
Despite the Iranian president's smoother than usual rhetoric, he reminded the U.S., "You know well that today you are suffering from weaknesses. You have no choice. You can't make any progress through bullying policies."
Observers speculated that Ahmadinejad has interpreted recent statements by President Barack Obama and European nations to mean that Western leaders are willing to make concessions in return for talks with Tehran on its nuclear program.
Ahmadinejad's "nice talk" may be aimed at Iranian voters who will cast ballots in June, His main challenger, Mir-Hossein Moussavi, told the London Financial Times Tuesday that if elected, he would provide guarantees that Iran will not use its nuclear reactor to produce weapons.
Israel, the U.S. and the Western world do not trust Ahmadinejad's statements that the nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes, and his refusal to allow U.N. inspectors to inspect the facilities on a regular basis have added to the suspicions.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton contradicted on Wednesday a report in The New York Times that the Obama administration might be willing to drop its demand that Iran halt its program for enriching uranium, a key element in a nuclear weapon.
"We have not dropped or added any conditions," she said. She added, "We haven't seen anything that would amount to any kind of proposal at all."
The attempts to stage talks with Iran come on the background of new suggestions from Israel that the Jewish state might take military action against Iran as a measure of self-defense. The normally dovish President Shimon Peres said earlier this week, "We will strike" if Ahmadinejad does not back down on his refusal to cooperate with nuclear investigators.