By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan
Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. wants a “civil, diplomatic relationship” with Iran and has told the regime that possessing a nuclear weapon isn’t in the nation’s best interests, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.
President Barack Obama conveyed that message to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Hoseini Khamenei, Clinton said in an interview with PBS’s Charlie Rose to be broadcast today on Bloomberg Television.
Iran’s secrecy over its nuclear program has given the U.S. “many reasons to worry,” Clinton said. In the same interview, she said U.S. policy on Afghanistan must focus on destroying al- Qaeda, not on “nation-building.”
The U.S. suspects Iran is trying to make a nuclear bomb and is working with France, the U.K., Germany, Russia and China to persuade the regime to stop enriching uranium. The government in Tehran insists its nuclear program is intended for civilian purposes such as electricity generation.