U.S. to Reportedly Invite Iran to Afghanistan Conference

The Obama administration reportedly plans to invite Iran to an international conference on Afghanistan later this month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Thursday.

"If we move forward with such a meeting, it is expected that Iran would be invited as a neighbor of Afghanistan," Clinton told reporters in Brussels after meeting NATO foreign ministers, Reuters reports.

In a dramatic shift from Bush administration policy, President Obama has indicated that the United States wishes to consult with Iran on a series of issues. The invitation to the March 31 conference would be the beginning of such an outreach, Reuters reports.

"It is a way of bringing all the stakeholders and interested parties together," Clinton told Reuters.
Among other issues, the United States and Iran are at odds on its nuclear program, which Washington says is set on building an atomic bomb. Tehran, meanwhile, has said the program is for nonviolent, energy purposes.

"Our task is to dissuade them, deter them and prevent from acquiring a nuclear weapon," Clinton told Reuters.