Obama could open early Iran nuclear talks

By Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama could open talks with Iran on its nuclear program early next year if he wins the White House, one of his senior foreign policy advisers said on Thursday.

Former U.S. national security adviser Tony Lake suggested Washington needed to give Tehran a sharper choice between the consequences of continuing its suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons and the benefits of giving it up.

The Bush administration accuses Iran of seeking to develop atomic weapons and has sought to persuade Iran to give up its sensitive nuclear work through a carrot-and-stick approach of incentives and sanctions.

Iran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons, saying that its uranium enrichment program is to generate electricity.

After refusing to talk directly to Iran on the nuclear issue unless it first suspending uranium enrichment, Bush in July changed policy and sent a top diplomat to join a meeting of major powers -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia -- with Iran.

Obama strongly backed that move. He has said that if elected he would pursue a policy of greater engagement aimed at persuading Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions but has not been specific about the timing.

The United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany presented a new package of incentives to Tehran last month, offering to hold off on further sanctions if Iran froze expansion of its nuclear work. Iran has not accepted the offer. The United Nations Security Council has already passed three resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran.

Obama hopes the administration makes progress before Bush steps down in January, Lake said, but he believes the United States and its allies needed to devise tougher potential sanctions to increase its leverage over Tehran.