Rice says Iran stalling on nuclear freeze proposal

"What happened in Geneva was some discussions about the two sides' approaches to the nuclear talks and their timing," he told reporters, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency. "They presented an offer for the resumption of nuclear talks, and we had also an initiative to this end. The two sides are expected to consider the issue for two weeks and comment about it."

On Sunday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described the meeting as a success. "Any negotiation that takes place is a step forward," Ahmadinejad told reporters, according to IRNA. "Yesterday's negotiation is regarded as one of these forward-moving negotiations."

But Rice drew a gloomier picture Monday. She called Jalili's lengthy presentation "meandering" and frustrating to all the diplomats present.

"We expected to hear an answer from the Iranians but, as has been the case so many times with the Iranians, what came through was not serious," she told reporters.

"It's time for the Iranians to give a serious answer," she said. "They can't go and stall and make small talk about culture, they have to make a decision. People are tired of the Iranians and their stalling tactics."

Some Iranian officials hailed the U.S. diplomatic presence at the meeting as a victory for Tehran.

"The shift in U.S. diplomacy has created a very good opportunity for Iran, and we should do our best to make use of it," Hassan Rowhani, a mid-ranking cleric who served as Iran's top nuclear negotiator during the presidency of reformist Mohammad Khatami, told reporters Sunday.

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, a hard-line lawmaker, said the White House sent Burns to the meeting to avoid isolation. "It was a success for Iran and a setback for the United States," he said Sunday, according to IRNA.

But Rice on Monday downplayed any signs of diplomatic overtures to Iranian officials, including whispers that Washington was interested in opening a consular office in Tehran. "We are always looking for ways to relate to the Iranian people and to make it easier for them to relate to us," she said.

Burns' attendance Saturday bolstered the U.S. argument to its allies that it was eager to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis, Rice said, suggesting the high-level U.S. presence was a onetime event.

"I think we have done enough to demonstrate that the United States is serious and to assure our partners that we are serious and to show the Iranians that we are serious," she said. "We will see what Iran does in two weeks, but I think the diplomatic process now has a new kind of energy to it."

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daragahi@latimes.com

Mostaghim is a special correspondent and Daragahi a Times staff writer.