U.S. Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards says, if elected next year, his administration would open direct talks with Iran to try to contain Tehran's nuclear ambitions.Edwards proposes an abrupt shift in Bush administration policy toward Iran in an article he wrote for Foreign Affairs magazine's upcoming issue, saying he would boost U.S. diplomacy worldwide if elected in November 2008. Edwards does not rule out the option of military force, saying: "With a threat so serious, no U.S. president should take any option off the table."
But he would be prepared to engage the government of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a way that has not been done since the United States severed relations after Tehran's 1979 revolution. President George W. Bush has refused talks with Iran over its nuclear program, limiting contacts to talks about Iraq. Tehran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons.