Iran

Secretary Clinton discussed Iran with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow today. As one senior U.S. official put it, Clinton wanted to know "what specific forms of pressure Russia would be prepared" to join the United States in if Iran didn't keep its promises about not developing nuclear weapons.

Lavrov proved tough, though, and didn't pledge tougher sanctions against Iran, stating at a news conference afterward that sanctions would be counterproductive at this point. "All forces should be aimed at supporting talks," he said.

Clinton doesn't support tougher sanctions at this time either, saying at the news conference, "But we are not at that point yet. That is not a conclusion we have reached. And we want to be very clear that it is our preference that Iran works with the international community … to fulfill its obligation on inspections."

Clinton said that overall her discussion with Lavrov was "very comprehensive and productive." "I feel very good about the so-called reset," she said.

Clinton met later with human rights activists and opposition journalists and concluded her day by attending the opera The Love for Three Oranges at the Bolshoi Theatre.

Photo: ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images

Secretary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates' interview with Christiane Amanpour and GWU's Frank Sesno will be on CNN today at 3 p.m. U.S. Eastern time (7 p.m. GMT on CNN International).

Last night, I was able to watch in person their interview at George Washington University and, as expected, they gave intelligent responses to important questions on Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. At the end, a young man -- presumably a GWU student -- screamed, "I love you, Hillary Clinton!" (You probably won't see that part on CNN.)

Clinton once again reiterated that she, Gates, and President Obama have a harmonious working relationship, saying:

Henry Kissinger … said that it was the first time that he found that the, you know, State Department, the White House, and the Defense Department mostly through Bob [Gates] and me and -- and General [James] Jones -- were all saying the same thing.

"Now that doesn't mean we don't have differences of opinion or see issues from slightly different perspectives, but we have an enormous amount of respect for each other, we listen to each other, and we work through, give our best advice to the president and then support the president's decision."

Referring to the recent talks in Geneva between Iran, the United States, and five other countries over Iran's nuclear program, Sesno asked, "Do you think the Iranians actually want to resolve this?"

Clinton candidly replied, "We don't know yet. We don't know."

When Sesno asked about criticism that the talks were just another way for the Iranians to buy time, Clinton responded:

Does it buy time? It buys time. It buys time for us to consider carefully their response, the sincerity of their actions, and, you know, we're moving simultaneously on the dual track. I mean, we always said we had a track of engagement, and we have begun that with this process, but we also said we would be working with like-minded nations and convincing others to stand ready with tougher sanctions were we not successful."

Meanwhile, Gates said on Iran:

The only long-term solution to this problem, at the end of the day, is the Iranians themselves deciding having nuclear weapons is not in their interest. And if we can't convince them of that, then an array of other options are open."

Also a giant, approving applause burst out when Gates said:  

The American toolbox should contain something other than hammers."

To learn about the other tools that Gates and Clinton think should be in the toolbox, check out CNN today.

Photo: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images

Secretary Clinton was on TV yesterday! In a Face the Nation interview that was pre-taped Friday, Clinton talked about the recent news of Iran's secret nuclear facility and the upcoming Oct. 1 meeting between representatives of Iran and the P5+1 countries -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States.

Clinton said of Iran, its nuclear facility, and the Oct. 1 meeting:

We don't believe that they can present convincing evidence that it's only for peaceful purposes, but we are going to put them to the test on October 1st."

When asked, "What can Iran say in this meeting to say we're really -- all all we're trying to do is make electricity?", Clinton bluntly replied:

Well, they can't say anything because they've said that for years, but they can open up their entire system to the kind of extensive investigation that the facts call for."

When interviewer Harry Smith asked Clinton about the "crippling sanctions" that Clinton said should be put in place if diplomacy with Iran fails, she replied:

Well, Harry, we're exploring how you broaden and deepen sanctions. Now sanctions are already in place as you know, but like many sanction regimes they're leaky. But in the last eight months since we've been dealing with North Korea on a similar set of issues we have forged an international consensus around very tough sanctions. And that's given us some additional information about how to proceed on the Iranian front."

When the interview switched to Pakistan, Clinton had complimentary words:

HARRY SMITH: Is Pakistan doing enough to clean up its own house?

HILLARY CLINTON: Well, look at, again, what has happened in the last nine months. Pakistan has increased its commitment in the fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda.

HARRY SMITH (overlapping): They were successful in Swat valley.

HILLARY CLINTON: Absolutely successful.

Clinton did add, though, that the United States is working for even more action from Pakistan.

Meanwhile, husband Bill was on Meet the Press. When asked about the presence of Hillary's famously worded "vast right-wing conspiracy," Bill said:

It's not as strong as it was, because America's changed demographically, but it's as virulent as it was."

And when asked whether Hillary will ever run for president again, Bill replied:

That's up to her. I don't -- you know, we're not getting any younger. But I'm proud of what she's doing now. I think she's doing a good job and I'm honored that -- I think it's pretty thrilling that she and the president have established the relationship they have. And it's a good argument for reconciliation and remembering the big things for all the rest of us."

Secretary Clinton, seen above with Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu Moni on Sept. 16, will be giving a speech Friday morning at the Brookings Institution. I've RSVPed to attend, so I'll report back what I can. The speech is supposed to outline the United States' goals for next week's U.N. General Assembly session. In today's press briefing, Clinton's spokesman said she would discuss nonproliferation, Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, food security, and violence against women and girls.

Other Clinton news:

•Clinton says the United States will discuss nukes during talks with Iran on Oct. 1. Iran is saying that won't happen.

•Matt Latimer, a former speechwriter for George W. Bush, says that Bush thought Clinton would end up as the Democratic presidential nominee. In GQ magazine, Latimer claims that Bush said the following about Clinton:

"Wait till her fat keister is sitting at this desk," he once said (except he didn't say "keister").

•Clinton is concerned about Venezuela's arms purchases.

•Is Clinton scheduling a visit to Pakistan for this fall?

•Clinton will lead a U.S. delegation at a conference on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the first time the United States has attended the biennial conference since 1999.

Photo: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images

As you might have noticed today, one of the four square thumbnail photos on the FP home page has a photo of Secretary Clinton and the words: "Did Clinton Make a Gaffe Nobody Noticed?"

The words link to a post on The Cable about something Clinton said on Sunday's Meet the Press. Addressing Iran, she said:

You have a right to pursue the peaceful use of civil nuclear power. You do not have a right to obtain a nuclear weapon. You do not have the right to have the full enrichment and reprocessing cycle under your control."

Apparently, whether Iran has the right to enrich is up for debate. According to Rozen's piece, many nonproliferation experts think Iran does have the right. Others, however, say Iran has lost that right because it violated conditions of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), namely by hiding many of its nuclear activities for 18 years.

Did Clinton misspeak and thereby make a gaffe? Absolutely not. She was simply stating the United States' position -- held under both the Obama and George W. Bush administrations -- that Iran has forfeited its right to enrich because it didn't meet the terms of the NPT. An administration official told The Cable via e-mail: "She stated existing USG [U.S. government] policy, verbatim. So your folks are just plain wrong."

Photo: Thumbnail photo from Meet the Press

I'm "speed-blogging" once again with a quick roundup of Hillary news:

•Two days after Secretary Clinton compared North Korea's leaders to "unruly teenagers," the country's Foreign Ministry said in a statement: "Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping." (Really? North Korean schoolgirls wear pantsuits?)

•Israel's intelligence agencies minister has criticized Clinton for saying that the United States is considering extending a "defense umbrella" over the Persian Gulf region to deter Iran.

•ASEAN has rejected Clinton's suggestion that it should kick Burma out of the regional organization if it doesn't free Aung San Suu Kyi.

•When asked about her presidential ambitions in a TV interview, Clinton said, "I doubt very much that anything like that will ever be part of my life."

Photo: ROMEO GACAD/AFP/Getty Images

In an interview with private TV network Globovision that was broadcast Tuesday in Venezuela, Secretary Clinton got tough on Iran, calling for "even stricter" sanctions and saying its "pursuit of nuclear weapons" would "be very destabilizing in the Middle East and beyond."

Some sound bites:

We would ask the world to join us in imposing even stricter sanctions on Iran to try to change the behavior of the regime.

We have seen in the last weeks that Iran has not respected its own democracy.

It has taken actions against his own citizens for peacefully protesting. ["His" referring to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.]

I think it is not a very smart position to ally with a regime that is being rejected by so many of their own people.

Last month, most of you voted that Clinton should be speaking out more about the Iranian election and its aftermath. It looks like Clinton is doing just that.

As for why Clinton did an interview with a Venezuelan TV network? She's trying to ease the tense relationship between the United States and Venezuela. She reached out (literally) to President Hugo Chávez in April, and the United States recently returned its ambassador to Venezuela. Clinton told Globovision, "We are trying to lower the temperature. … We want to make it clear that there are ways for us to have a conversation with people we don't agree with on many issues."

Photo: ARASH KHAMOOSHI/AFP/Getty Images

If Secretary Clinton had been president, the United States would have been talking tough about Iran at least two days earlier.

Clinton -- known for laying the smack down verbally -- spent two whole days urging President Obama to talk tough on Iran before he finally did, reports the Washington Times. And then when he did condemn the violence, he did so without telling her first, making it look like the State Department was "out of sync" with the White House.

According to the article, Clinton originally agreed that the U.S. response should be somewhat restrained to avoid creating the impression that the United States was meddling in Iran's internal affairs -- and because the U.S. government would most likely end up having to deal with Ahmadinejad later on regarding nuclear weapons.

But after 26-year-old Neda Agha-Soltan was shot on a Tehran street on June 20, Clinton decided it was time for tough talk (a position you all supported in last week's poll). She spent two days urging Obama to speak out, but he resisted. Then on June 23, without informing her first, he announced, "I strongly condemn these unjust actions."

Of course Obama is the president and doesn't need Clinton's permission to speak, but as the Washington Times article states, his tough words made the State Department look "out of sync" with the White House. Until an hour before Obama's news conference, the State Department was still speaking in restrained terms (saying it was "deeply concerned," etc.)

Maybe Obama will listen to Clinton's foreign-policy advice more carefully next time -- or at least give her a heads-up about any unexpected moves.

Photo: KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images